Brussels, 19/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - Single doses of caffeine up to 200mg and daily intakes of up to 400mg do not raise safety concerns for adults in Europe, according to a provisional scientific opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
These are the two main conclusions reached by EFSA' scientific experts in this preliminary opinion on the safety of caffeine consumption from all sources, which is the subject of a public consultation to run until 15 March 2015.
EFSA invites responses from all stakeholders. It is also planning to hold a meeting in the first week of March 2015 to explain and discuss the draft opinion with interested parties, in line with the organisation's policy of openness .
Other key provisional conclusions include:
single doses of caffeine up to 200mg do not raise safety concerns for adults (18-65 years) even when consumed less than two hours before intense exercise;
it is unlikely that caffeine interacts adversely with other constituents of “energy drinks” - such as taurine and D-glucurono-ã-lactone - or alcohol;
for pregnant women, caffeine intakes of up to 200mg a day do not raise safety concerns for the foetus;
for children (3-10 years) and adolescents (10-18 years), daily intakes of 3mg per kg of body weight are considered safe;
single doses of 100mg may increase the length of time it takes to fall asleep and shorten sleeping time in some adults. (AN)