"Manufacturers are adding caffeine to more and more
products..and companies don't have to list how much they've
added..so Consumer Reports has some advice for parents. Like many
parents, Dawn Manniello doesn't want her children drinking
caffeinated sodas. She says it gets them all wound up. "Children
are energetic enough as it is. I don't feel they have to be pumped
up with extra caffeine."
She knows there's caffeine in Pepsi and Coke, so she limits those.
But caffeine is in lots of other products, too, including Mountain
Dew. Consumer Reports' David Heim says if caffeine has been added
to a food, you'll see it listed under ingredients. But
manufacturers don't have to list how much. And if caffeine is found
naturally in foods, such as coffee or chocolate, it doesn't have to
be listed on the label at all. Consumer Reports checked the
caffeine content in a variety of foods and drinks and turned up
some surprising results. David Heim/Consumer Reports, "Ounce for
ounce Sunkist Orange soda has nearly as much caffeine as colas do."
So does the vitamin water from Glaceau and this Sobe energy
drink.
There's also a hefty dose of caffeine in several new drinks,
including D-N-l, Pepsi Blue, Atomic Jacked apple juice drink and
Red Fusion from Dr. Pepper. Supermarket manufacturers say caffeine
adds flavor. Consumer Reports testers asked 56 middle-school-aged
kids to do a taste test. "What I need you to do is take two sips of
the first one..." The children were given unmarked cups of regular
Coke and Pepsi, as well as the caffeine-free versions. There was no
clear-cut preference. "They were both sweet and like bubbly." "They
both tasted the same to me."
Some children actually liked the caffeine-free colas better. "The
first one it had more taste and flavor to me than the second one."
Consumer Reports' advice for parents - check the label on drinks
closely. You'll find plenty of caffeine-free sodas, including
orange slice, mug root beer and sprite. And remember, caffeine
doesn't have to be listed on the label of chocolate or
coffee-flavored foods because the caffeine occurs naturally. In its
study, Consumer Reports found that a small container of Dannon's
coffee flavored low fat yogurt has the same amount of caffeine as a
can of Coke. "
