The FDA is Pulling This Deadly Caffeine Product From the Market

The FDA is Pulling This Deadly Caffeine Product From the Market

Concentrated caffeine products can be deadly but retailers continued to sell them.

Drinking coffee, tea and caffeinated sports drinks is normal. Ingesting highly concentrated bulk caffeine isn’t, and it’s potentially fatal. For this reason, last week the FDA announced that this product is now illegal in the United States.

Is it a necessary measure? Concentrated bulk caffeine may sound like an extremely marginal product, but there’s evidence that it’s become more mainstream.

Last May a South Carolina teen, who was otherwise in good health, died from a caffeine overdose. The exact details of his particular case haven’t been shared in media reports.

Rumor has it though, that many teens don’t think twice about adding concentrated caffeine to “workout cocktails” for an extra spike of energy.

Over 20 Cups of Coffee in One Teaspoon

What most people often don’t know though, is the danger that can follow. The amount of caffeine they’re really ingesting can kill them.

“A half cup of a highly concentrated liquid caffeine can contain approximately 2,000 mg of caffeine and just a single teaspoon of a powdered pure caffeine product can contain approximately 3,200 mg of caffeine. This is equivalent to about 20 to 28 cups of coffee, a potentially toxic dose of caffeine,” the FDA states.

While a couple of cups of coffee in the morning may give you the jitters, concentrated caffeine can cause your heart to beat extremely fast. It can instigate an erratic or irregular rhythm. This can lead to seizures and death, as has been the case with two individuals so far in the U.S.

“Despite multiple actions against these products in the past, we’ve seen a continued trend of products containing highly concentrated or pure caffeine being marketed directly to consumers as dietary supplements and sold in bulk quantities, with up to thousands of recommended servings per container,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said in a statement.

The administration is currently acting to pull concentrated caffeine products from retail shelves across the country.

Photo credits: Casimiro PT/Shutterstock.com

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