Caffeine

Caffeine is naturally occurring and is found in tea, coffee and chocolate.

But where caffeine is added (at present this is only ' kola' type soft drinks and the caffeinated beverages or ' energy' drinks) then the food must be labelled as containing caffeine. If the lesser known guarana has been added (which is a plant from South America which has high levels of natural caffeine) then these foods, too, must be labelled as containing caffeine. This is to help people who wish to avoid caffeine either for themselves or their children.

Here is a list of foods and drinks which contain caffeine and their caffeine content:

Food	Caffeine content
Percolated coffee	60-120 mg / 250mL cup
Formulated caffeinated beverages or ' Energy' Drinks	80 mg / 250 mL can
Instant coffee (1 teaspoon/cup)	60-80 mg / 250 mL cup
Tea	10-50 mg / 250 mL cup
Coca Cola	48.75mg / 375ml can
Milk Chocolate	20 mg / 100g bar

 

Safety Aspects of Dietary Caffeine - Report from the Expert Working Group, June 2000

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) established an Expert Working Group (consisting of external experts) to examine the wider aspects of the safety of dietary sources of caffeine.

The task and terms of reference for the group were to examine the potential for acute toxicological/pharmacological effects at low doses of caffeine (Term of Reference A), the potential for addictive effects (Term of Reference B) and identification of any other caffeine-related hazards particularly in children (Term of Reference C).

Full Report [ pdf ]