Caffeine Exposure in Children and Adolescents Consuming Ready-to-Drink Coffee Products

Background: Caffeine may cause adverse effects in children, and Health Canada recommends a maximum daily caffeine intake of 2.5 mg per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg bw) for children under 12 years. Although coffee beverages, especially ready-to-drink (RTD) types, have become increasingly popular, a lack of data was noted regarding their contribution to caffeine exposure in children and adolescents. Methods: Caffeine was analyzed in a sample of 82 coffee beverages using HPLC. The selection of RTD samples was representative for Germany. The intake of coffee beverages by children and adolescents between the age groups 10 and 18 was estimated using data from the Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed Study. In the study period of 2004–2010, the intake of 381 adolescents (186 male, 195 female) with a total of 1295 three-day dietary records were assessed. Results: The caffeine content of RTD coffee products varied between 0.03 and 1.78 g/L (average 0.38 g/L). The average coffee intake ...