Step away from the coffee pot. A professor at two universities in Iceland and Ireland is sounding the alarm on rising caffeine-related death tolls and calling on the United States and other countries to fill the “regulatory vacuum” in this area.
“How many caffeine-related fatalities and near-misses must there be before we regulate?” Jack E. James, professor at Reykjavik University in Iceland and National University in Ireland asked, in a recent article quoted by Raw Story.
Mr. James, who also serves as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Caffeine Research, is pushing for lawmakers and regulators to crack down on the stimulant. His call for regulation could gather steam.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has launched an investigation into the links between certain energy drinks and recent deaths, Raw Story reports.
And the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has recently found that emergency room visits due to energy drink issues have doubled over four years, from 10,068 in 2007 to 20,783 in 2011, according to the report.
Mr. James says these drinking-related hospital visits and fatalities were hardly “mere coincidence,” according to Raw Story.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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