Caffeine toxicity from energy drink consumption is increasing in Australia, particularly among adolescents, according to new research published today in the Medical Journal of Australia. The scientists behind the research, Dr Naren Gunja, a clinical senior toxicologist at the University of Sydney, and Dr Jared Brown, senior poisons specialist at the New South Wales Poisons Information Centre, say the figures would justify tightening of regulation for caffeinated energy drinks in Australia. Their... ...Read more »

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), has called for a ban on the sale of premixed alcohol and energy drink (AED) products in Australia. Research into consumption habits, commissioned by FARE and undertaken by Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, found that young people in Australia are regularly consuming between three and five alcohol and energy drinks a night, and some drinking as many as ten. Turning Point’s lead researcher, Amy Pennay, said that mixing alcohol and energy... ...Read more »

The Canadian Government has announced it will reform the way it regulates energy drinks in Canada. Energy drinks are non-alcoholic beverages characterised by the addition of ‘energy enhancing’ ingredients. These may include a number of water-soluble B vitamins, amino acids and other substances, and caffeine. The proposed Canadian legislation includes: A cap on the amount of caffeine that can be included in an energy drink at 180 mg per single serving. In addition to current labels that... ...Read more »

As part of an international study, researchers from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) claim they have identified a gene that plays a role in influencing how much coffee people drink. Dr Enda Byrne from QIMR said the study, published today in Molecular Psychiatry journal, shows that there is a small genetic variant in the population that determines how people react to coffee and therefore explains why some people will consume coffee at higher levels and why others won’t drink it... ...Read more »

British researchers claim that the caffeine ‘fix’ that many coffee-drinkers seek may be obtained equally by a decaffeinated placebo. Researchers from the University of East London studied volunteers who were provided decaffeinated coffee but were told their drink contained caffeine. A report on the research study was published this week in the international research journal, Appetite. The volunteers who drank decaffeinated coffee proved quicker in performance than those who were given... ...Read more »

News that drinking coffee can reduce the risk of skin cancer has sent a buzz through the world’s media over the past 24 hours. Australian Food News has been investigating how this media storm was brewed. Meanwhile, other very serious skin cancer breakthrough stories appear to have been left unstirred. The news kerfuffle about coffee and skin cancer appears to have begun with the release in August 2011 of a research paper, published by the National Academy of Sciences (NAC) of the USA. This was... ...Read more »

Australian and New Zealand ministers responsible for the regulation of food and beverages met in Canberra last week, and announced a full review of the Policy Guideline for formulated caffeinated energy drinks. The meeting of the Australia and New ZeaZealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council also discussed closer scrutiny of infant formula, scores on doors for restaurants, a review of the mandatory folate fortification of bread flour, and its response to the Blewett labelling review, which it expects... ...Read more »

Eating a fatty fast food meal is never good for you, but washing that meal down with a coffee is even worse, according to a new University of Guelph study. Researcher Marie-Soleil Beaudoin has discovered not only that a healthy person’s blood sugar levels spike after eating a high-fat meal, but that the spike doubles after having both a fatty meal and caffeinated coffee – jumping to levels similar to those of people at risk for diabetes. “The results tell us that saturated fat interferes... ...Read more »

The health implications of caffeinated energy drinks, improvement of public awareness of the nutrition content of take away food and recent international developments and efforts made by Australian and New Zealand industry in phasing out the use of Bisphenol A (BPA) chemicals in baby bottles and food containers were among a range of food and beverage topics discussed at a meeting of the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council (Ministerial Council) held in Adelaide on Friday. The... ...Read more »

Researchers at Nagoya University have reported evidence that drinking coffee may help prevent diabetes, and that coffee can ameliorate the effects of fatty liver, hyperglycemia and improve insulin sensitivity. The research, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, fed diabetes-prone mice either water or diluted coffee for five weeks. The coffee-drinking mice showed improved insulin sensitivity, reduced fatty liver and lower levels of inflammatory adipocytokines – all factors... ...Read more »