The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent letters to five producers of pure powdered caffeine products to warn them about their products' hazards to public health, which may subsequently cause illnesses and injuries to consumers.
Pure powdered caffeine may pose health threats and has already caused deaths among two U.S. teenagers thus, the FDA is continuously working to warn consumers and help halt mortalities associated with the said product.
According to the FDA, only a fine line exists between the safe and toxic levels of pure caffeine powdered products. Aside from that, measuring the precise amounts of the safe doses are quite unattainable in households with ordinary kitchen measuring equipment. Kitchen tools such as teaspoons cannot yield the exact number of milligrams that are contained in a serving size. With this, individuals who are diagnosed with pre-existing medical conditions may be put at a higher risk of danger.
In 2014, the FDA released the Consumer Advice document, which warns the public regarding the hazards of pure powdered caffeine. pure powdered caffeine has a significantly higher strength level compared to regular coffee, as such as 1 teaspoon of pure powdered caffeine is equal to the caffeine content of 28 cups of regular coffee. Although people are aware of coffee's mild effects such as tremors, they may not be knowledgeable about the more serious effects of coffee including irregular heartbeats, seizures and death, among many others.
The U.S. agency is said to continue its monitoring interventions in the market and act as appropriate. In cases where the FDA discovers violators, the agency may enforce actions to halt parties from manufacturing their products.
The Bridge City Bulk is one of the firms that received the letter of warning from the FDA. According to the agency, they discovered two products packaged between one to 25 kilograms. The product that comes in a 10-kilogram package is said to have approximately 1,230 tablespoons, which is equivalent to 50,000 servings. The company was told that the said product contain fatal doses and that they need to immediately take corrective actions. Jeffrey Stratton, founder of the Bridge City Bulk has already responded, saying that they have already stopped selling the product but iterated that they have never received complaints against their product ever.
The other four companies include PureBulk, Kreativ Health, SmartPowders and Hard Eight Nutrition. The actions of these companies have not been determined but the agency said they would separately monitor the companies' responses within 15 days, which is the time frame given to the firms.
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