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posted by mrpg on Monday April 16 2018, @11:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the precedence:bulk dept.

FDA Bans Pure Bulk Caffeine Products, Citing "significant Public Health Concern"

Companies can no longer sell bulk packages of liquid or powdered caffeine directly to consumers, the Food and Drug Administration announced Friday. The policy will take immediate effect "given the significant public health concern," according to the agency's statement released Friday. "Highly concentrated and pure caffeine, often sold in bulk packages, have been linked to at least two deaths in otherwise healthy individuals," the agency stated.

[...] In small doses, if you're otherwise healthy, caffeine shouldn't kill you. But part of the issue is that highly concentrated caffeine looks nothing like the kinds of caffeinated products we're used to seeing. Instead, it can look like water if it's in a liquid form or sugar if it's powdered. "The consequences of a consumer mistakenly confusing one of these products could be toxic or even lethal," the agency stated.

[...] Between 10 and 14 grams of caffeine is considered life-threatening, according to the FDA's guidelines, though people can have an irregular or rapid heart rate and seizures after taking just a gram. The amount of concentrated caffeine that's considered safe at a time—200 milligrams—is very, very small.

Also at Bloomberg.


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by arcz on Tuesday April 17 2018, @12:55AM (4 children)

    by arcz (4501) on Tuesday April 17 2018, @12:55AM (#667876) Journal

    This is only slightly annoying. They already "warned" several companies before, including the one I bought caffeine from. As a result, I pay a little bit more, and I get all the caffine in gelatin capsules that I have to open when making a soda syrup. But it actually isn't that bad, because it does save me time measuring since the caplets are already measured.

    It's not like you can't buy caffeine pills, even caplets full of pure caffeine are fine. it's just the "bulk" form that can't be sold directly. And even with the extra cost of the caplets, caffeine is cheap enough that it doesn't really make a difference in the price of my home-made sodas.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday April 17 2018, @01:25AM (3 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday April 17 2018, @01:25AM (#667885) Journal

    When you say you make homemade soda, do you carbonate with yeast like this [allrecipes.com], or use some kind of SodaStream or CO2 tank thingy?

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday April 17 2018, @01:47PM (1 child)

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Tuesday April 17 2018, @01:47PM (#668049) Journal

      We make our own soda with a SodaStream, because we sweeten with stevia and you can't buy soda sweetened with stevia (except maybe in extremely niche hippie stores in Williamsburg, Brooklyn). The family favorite is sumac soda, because we pick the sumac from trees in Prospect Park in August; it brews up like sun tea, and when sweetened and carbonated tastes something like a cross between lemonade and raspberry. Home-made ginger ale works well, too. Buy the ginger on special or at an Asian supermarket, add lemon juice, carbonate, and voila.

      A side benefit is the peace of mind from knowing exactly what went into the beverage, and that it's far healthier without all the sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or what-have-you. Another fun aspect is you can get creative with soda varieties that you'll never find in a store, so it keeps the boredom at bay.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday April 17 2018, @03:02PM

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday April 17 2018, @03:02PM (#668119) Journal

        because we pick the sumac from trees in Prospect Park in August; it brews up like sun tea, and when sweetened and carbonated tastes something like a cross between lemonade and raspberry

        Sumac is often used in hummus [spicespicebaby.net] for that reason.

        Google is telling me that the CO2 cartridge refills for SodaStream run about $15 per 60 L of carbonated water aka $0.25 per liter. I bet someone is doing it cheaper with a big honking CO2 tank, possibly by repurposing equipment intended to carbonate beer.

        --
        [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 2) by arcz on Tuesday April 17 2018, @05:47PM

      by arcz (4501) on Tuesday April 17 2018, @05:47PM (#668200) Journal
      I use a CO2 tank using a tank-to-bottlecap-adapter thing. You can get them online, just made sure your CO2 is beverage-grade, don't put just any random CO2 into your drinks. :)