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.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday April 17 2018, @01:22AM (9 children)
I used to use some 200 mg caffeine tablets which weren't microscopic and didn't kill you (maybe if you took 10+ at once?). So either they contained a lot of filler or you are exaggerating about a "granule" being lethal.
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(Score: 3, Informative) by EvilSS on Tuesday April 17 2018, @01:54AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 17 2018, @11:46AM
Indeed, much filler. I assume you are talking about Jet Alert or a similar 200mg caffeine pill (I take these). Pills like this are much safer than pure caffeine powder if for nothing more than consistent dosage. It is indeed easy to overdose on pure powder or concentrated liquid, but I'm torn on if this means it should be banned.
Anyway, I can say from the 200mg pills if I take 3+ at a time I start to feel dizzy, nauseous, and actually groggy/sleepy. I've started to limit myself to no more than 1 at a time and no more than 3 a day.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday April 17 2018, @02:26PM (4 children)
200 mg caffeine seems like a lot to me. That's over twice as much as I drink in a day. 2 cans of Diet Coke, each 46 mg. (Except on Fridays, 3 or 4 cans.)
People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday April 17 2018, @03:13PM (3 children)
A more reasonable size would be 100 mg. 200 mg is the exxxtra strength version for sure. Even one of those can make a person jittery.
I don't consider it too healthy or useful and I don't use it anymore. I did "OD" on it once, where I basically had maybe a whole gram, fell asleep, and woke up a little later in a state of brief terror/panic. Took a walk and calmed down.
https://www.amazon.com/ProLab-Caffeine-Maximum-Potency-100-Count/dp/B0011865IQ/ [amazon.com]
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(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday April 17 2018, @06:42PM (2 children)
Ha! Wuss! My upper limit has been determined entirely by my kidneys saying "OMGWTFBBQ" when I get too close to 2g/day of sustained consumption. I will admit that the corner-of-the-eye hallucinations get annoying when you start getting into levels around that though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday April 17 2018, @07:18PM (1 child)
Ah shit I remember those little fuzzies.
Also 1g at once is going to be worse than 2g over the whole day. Supposedly the biological half life is around 6 hours.
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(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday April 17 2018, @07:56PM
True enough. I try to stick to about 1g from 5-10AM with half of it consumed in the first hour, a quarter over the following hour, and the last quarter allocated over the remaining three. And I'm still really wanting a nap by 11 or 12.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Tuesday April 17 2018, @05:35PM (1 child)
Well, Math would say 5 pills can cause irregular heartbeats and 50 would provide the required 10g of caffeine on the low end of the life threatening dosage.
Of course metric measurements are so difficult that the idea that it would take 5 - 200mg pills to equal 1 gram is so hard to determine if my calculations are correct. /s
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday April 17 2018, @06:25PM
I did the 1 gram and I don't ever want to do that again. Whatever wakefulness you get is coupled with momentary pauses of regret that interrupt your work.
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