FDA to take another look at caffeine

By Team Genovese
(This commentary is written by Kate's team)


The April 29th USA Today headline discusses something many of us can relate to - our morning cup of coffee.  Even some of the best things life has to offer need to be taken with the thought of balance and moderation.   But to some of us, our coffee is a cherished treat.  Let's look at the first part of the article:

FDA will investigate added caffeine in foods

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration says it will launch a new investigation into foods with added caffeine and their potential impact on the health of children and adolescents.
The FDA's new look at added caffeine is in response to a caffeinated gum introduced this week by Wrigley. Called Alert Energy Gum, it promises "The right energy, right now."

Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner of foods, said in a statement Monday that the proliferation of caffeine added to foods is "beyond anything FDA envisioned."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/29/fda-added-caffeine-foods/2121953/

Now Kate is the health professional, but as a person outside of that field, I think it is good to put my thoughts out there and ask for Kate's commentary on both the USA Today article and a layman's perspective.

The proliferation of caffeine - Michael Taylor's exclamation point above a good reference - is like the overuse of salt, sugar and so many unseen additives in such small print on just about every single thing that we buy.

In our busy lives it is much easier to grab something prefabricated and well-preserved, yet our diets are what shape our physical appearance, and as our bodies fight gravity on a daily basis, eating healthy, even carefully choosing gum if you want to chew, has to be something you decide on your own without a battery of television and radio advertising programming you and making you feel that some over-saturated-with-whatever new product is actually going to improve your life.

Improving your life means being careful what you consume, what you hear, what you  read.

If the FDA is taking another look at caffeine, perhaps we should too.

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