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American Morning
House Call: Kids & Caffeine
Aired June 27, 2003 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is wake-up-call time for parents. "Consumer Reports" has the lowdown on the high caffeine content in some of your kids' favorite foods and drinks.
Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is at the CNN Center with details on that.
Hopefully, you have had your morning caffeine. Sanjay -- good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. I was going to say, morning anchors are probably expert in caffeine consumption, no question.
But I'll tell you, people are a little surprised sometimes when they hear where caffeine is actually located. For example, half a cup of this ice cream here, this coffee ice cream from Haagen-Dazs, has actually more caffeine than a Coke. Most people are surprised by that.
Kids, in particular, are vulnerable to some of these effects. Too much caffeine certainly can leave them jittery and nervous and maybe with some tension. They say about 100 milligrams of caffeine in a day is probably the limit for most kids. And to give you an example again, if you drink a Coke, you have a cup of caffeinated ice cream and a half a cup of M&M's, which is standard breakfast for Daryn Kagan perhaps, but that's 128 milligrams of caffeine.
KAGAN: That it is.
GUPTA: And that's probably too much for most kids.
Also other sources of caffeine, too, if you look at all of the other sources of caffeine out there, again, you'd be a little bit surprised if you take a look at the list here. Places like Sunkist orange soda, for example, people thought that was not a source of caffeine; in fact, it is. Chocolate or coffee-flavored ice cream. These vitamin waters, too, sort of surprising, but the vitamin waters also sometimes with significant amounts of caffeine, and energy drinks.
Now, one thing important to point out as well, Daryn, is that the USDA, which regulates this, does not require that specific products actually have caffeine listed on their product labels. So, if you really want to get the information, you've got to go to the Internet or somewhere or call the company to find out about the product information, specifically how much caffeine is located in the particular products.
And, again, with kids, there are all sorts of symptoms that might result from too much caffeine, if you take a look at some of the symptoms. Again, we're talking about anxiety, insomnia, tension, and in extreme cases nausea and upset stomach. So, too much caffeine is obviously something to look out for. Be careful what you eat. Look at the product labels if you can find them -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Sanjay, thanks for making parents more aware. Appreciate it. We'll see you in the next hour.
GUPTA: The next hour, right. Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired June 27, 2003 - 07:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is wake-up-call time for parents. "Consumer Reports" has the lowdown on the high caffeine content in some of your kids' favorite foods and drinks.
Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is at the CNN Center with details on that.
Hopefully, you have had your morning caffeine. Sanjay -- good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. I was going to say, morning anchors are probably expert in caffeine consumption, no question.
But I'll tell you, people are a little surprised sometimes when they hear where caffeine is actually located. For example, half a cup of this ice cream here, this coffee ice cream from Haagen-Dazs, has actually more caffeine than a Coke. Most people are surprised by that.
Kids, in particular, are vulnerable to some of these effects. Too much caffeine certainly can leave them jittery and nervous and maybe with some tension. They say about 100 milligrams of caffeine in a day is probably the limit for most kids. And to give you an example again, if you drink a Coke, you have a cup of caffeinated ice cream and a half a cup of M&M's, which is standard breakfast for Daryn Kagan perhaps, but that's 128 milligrams of caffeine.
KAGAN: That it is.
GUPTA: And that's probably too much for most kids.
Also other sources of caffeine, too, if you look at all of the other sources of caffeine out there, again, you'd be a little bit surprised if you take a look at the list here. Places like Sunkist orange soda, for example, people thought that was not a source of caffeine; in fact, it is. Chocolate or coffee-flavored ice cream. These vitamin waters, too, sort of surprising, but the vitamin waters also sometimes with significant amounts of caffeine, and energy drinks.
Now, one thing important to point out as well, Daryn, is that the USDA, which regulates this, does not require that specific products actually have caffeine listed on their product labels. So, if you really want to get the information, you've got to go to the Internet or somewhere or call the company to find out about the product information, specifically how much caffeine is located in the particular products.
And, again, with kids, there are all sorts of symptoms that might result from too much caffeine, if you take a look at some of the symptoms. Again, we're talking about anxiety, insomnia, tension, and in extreme cases nausea and upset stomach. So, too much caffeine is obviously something to look out for. Be careful what you eat. Look at the product labels if you can find them -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Sanjay, thanks for making parents more aware. Appreciate it. We'll see you in the next hour.
GUPTA: The next hour, right. Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
