The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned five distributors of powdered caffeine sold as dietary supplements that their products present a serious health risk if taken in too high a dose.
The companies are distributing the powdered caffeine in bulk, representing potentially deadly doses, without providing any guidance on how much is safe, the FDA says.
The caffeine is intended for people wanting to make their own energy drinks, but it is all too easy to overdose, as one teaspoon of the powder can contain as much caffeine as 28 cups of coffee.
"The difference between a safe amount and a toxic dose of caffeine in these pure powdered products is very small," an FDA release said. "Furthermore, safe quantities of these products can be nearly impossible to measure accurately with common kitchen measuring tools."
Consumers faced with an array of different labels and serving sizes could misinterpret what is a safe amount or measure it imprecisely, FDA officials say.
Excessive caffeine can cause diarrhea, vomiting and disorientation, the FDA warned, and in higher doses can lead to erratic heartbeats and even death.
The deaths of two otherwise healthy young men in 2014, in Georgia and Ohio, were attributed to overdoses of powdered caffeine.
That prompted the FDA to increase its efforts to halt the sale of the pure form of the stimulant.
"I cannot say strongly enough how important it is to avoid using powdered pure caffeine," Michael M. Landa, director of the FDA's center for food safety and applied nutrition, wrote in an online posting last December. "The people most drawn to it are our children, teenagers and young adults, especially students who want to work longer to study, athletes who want to improve their performance, and others who want to lose weight. ... As regulators and parents ourselves, we take this threat to public health very seriously."
In the latest action, the agency sent warning letters to five firms – Kreativ Health, PureBulk, SPN, Hard Eight Nutrition and Bridge City Bulk – giving them 15 days to respond to the agency's concerns or face legal action.
Two of the companies – Kreative Health and Bridge City Bulk – have already announced they are ceasing sales of powdered caffeine.
Because it is generally sold as a dietary supplement, powered caffeine is not subject to the same level of regulatory oversight as traditional pharmaceutical drugs.
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