咖啡因：功能性饮料的警告标签

科学家报告一个咖啡因功能性饮料现在市场上应该有显著的标识来标明咖啡因的含量以及对消费者健康的潜在影响
功能性饮料中咖啡因的含量差距可以达到十倍，其中一些功能性饮料含有相当于14听可乐饮料的咖啡因。现在咖啡因的含量经常会没有标识并且很少警告咖啡因所带来的潜在的健康风险。文章的作者之一Roland Griffiths谈到
没有足够的显著的标识，消大多数费者可能将不明白他们将得到一点或是很多咖啡因。“它就像你在饮用酒精类饮品，但是你不知道它是啤酒还是威士忌” Griffiths谈到。
一个普通的十二盎司可乐饮料含有大约35毫克咖啡因， 6盎司一杯的咖啡含有80-150毫克咖啡因。因为很多市场上的功能性饮料好像“定量的补充”，食品药品管理局要求软饮中的对咖啡因在界限（每罐12盎司听装饮料71毫克）没有得到实行。咖啡因在功能性饮料中的含量从50毫克到500毫克不等作者写道。
咖啡因中毒，是一个被确认的临床综合征，是被包括诊断和精神混乱统计指南和国际卫生组织认定的国际分类疾病，它的特点是神经过敏，焦虑，休息不良，失眠，肠胃失调，战栗，心动过率，精神亢奋在少数情况下会导致死亡。
据美国毒品控制中心得到的报告，一些功能性饮料会显示滥用咖啡因的不良反应。在2007年的一项调查中496例大学生接受了调查，51%的报告者称在过去的一个月中他们至少消费了至少一种功能性饮料。在这些功能性饮料的饮用者中29%报告“摇摆和不稳定”，19%报告称因饮用功能性饮料产生心悸症状。在相同的调查中显示27%的受到调查的学生说在过去的一月中他们至少一次将功能性饮料和酒精类饮品混合饮用。“酒精增加危险的级别” Griffiths谈到“因为高剂量咖啡因会给使用者判断力造成错觉这样会导在致驾车时或其他方式让他们自己处于危险中。”

Caffeine: Warning Labels for Energy Drinks
Scientists report that a slew of caffeinated energy drinks now on the market should carry prominent labels that note caffeine doses and warn of potential health risks for consumers.
“The caffeine content of energy drinks varies over a ten-fold range, with some containing the equivalent of 14 cans of Cola drinks, yet the caffeine amounts are often unlabelled and few include warnings about the potential health risks of caffeine intoxication,” says Roland Griffiths, one of the authors of the article.
Without adequate, prominent labelling, consumers most likely will not realise whether they are getting a little or a lot of caffeine. “It is like drinking a serving of an alcoholic beverage and not knowing if its beer or scotch,” says Griffiths.
A regular twelve-ounce cola drink has about 35 milligrams of caffeine, and a six-ounce cup of brewed coffee has 80 to 150 milligrams of caffeine. Because many energy drinks are marketed as “dietary supplements”, the limit that the Food and Drug Administration requires on the caffeine content of soft drinks (71 milligrams per twelve-ounce can) does not apply. The caffeine content of energy drinks varies from 50 to more than 500 milligrams, the authors write.
Caffeine intoxication, a recognised clinical syndrome included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases, is marked by nervousness, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, gastrointestinal upset, tremors, rapid heartbeats (tachycardia), psychomotor agitation (restlessness and pacing) and in rare cases, death.
Reports to U.S. poison control centers of caffeine abuse showed bad reactions to the energy drinks. In a 2007 survey of 496 college students, 51 percent reported consuming at least one energy drink during the last month. Of these energy drink users, 29 percent reported “weekly jolt and crash episodes ”, and 19 percent reported heart palpitations from drinking energy drinks.
This same survey revealed that 27 percent of the students surveyed said they mixed energy drinks and alcohol at least once in the past month. “Alcohol adds another level of danger,” says Griffiths, “because caffeine in high doses can give users a false sense of alertness that provides incentive to drive a car or in other ways put themselves in danger.”