Mars Wrigley Caffeinated Gum Raise Red Flags with FDA, Watchgroups

Many food products available today marketed towards children have either large quantities of sugar, salt or fat. Now a new product has hit shelves - caffeinated gum - prompting government and watchdog groups to react.

The Food and Drug Admnistration will launch an investigation into the caffeinated gum, called "Alert Energy Gum" which promises "The right energy, right now." The gum, launched today by Wrigley, a subsidiary of Mars, Inc., has 40 milligrams of caffeine per piece and 8 blister-packed pieces per box. Many children, especially teenagers, consume chewing gum and concerned parents want to know the risks involved from the spike in caffeine.

The FDA acknowledged the proliferation of caffeine added to foods is "beyond anything FDA envisioned," Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner of foods, said in a statement on the agency's website. The only time the FDA approved added caffeine in food was for cola in the 1950s he said.

Taylor said the agency will look at the potential impact these "new and easy sources" of caffeine will have on children's health and will take action if necessary. The agency previously launched an investigation into the safety of energy drinks.

Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit watchdog group, is also taking note of the new product and says that Wrigley's social-media heavy website is a sign that the company intends to market the product to young people.

"Could caffeinated macaroni and cheese or breakfast cereal be next?" asked CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson, according to the groups website. "One serving of any of these foods isn't likely to harm anyone. The concern is that it will be increasingly easy to consume caffeine throughout the day, sometimes unwittingly, as companies add caffeine to candies, nuts, snacks and other foods. And that's on top of the soda, coffee, tea, and energy drinks that are already widely consumed."