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CNN Live Today

'Daily Dose'

Aired June 27, 2003 - 11:40   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Before we went to the break in our "Daily Dose" question of the day, we were asking which has more caffeine, one cup of Haagen-Dazs ice cream -- coffee ice cream, in particular actually or a can of Coke? So, which is it?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ta-da, this one. The coffee ice cream has more caffeine than a can of coke, which I think people might find surprising. Let's look at the numbers. The can of coke has 34.5 milligrams of caffeine, and the cup of ice cream has 48 milligrams of caffeine.

COLLINS: Wow.

COHEN: Very interesting. There are many things you might not know have caffeine. This is based on a "Consumer Reports" study that came out recently. They were interested in seeing how much caffeine do certain products have.

First of all, if you look at a cup of instant coffee, 95 milligrams, well, 12 ounces of Coke has 34.5 milligrams. One cup of Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream, as we just saw, has 48 milligrams, and then the one most the "Consumer Reports" found most surprising was 8 ounces of Sunkist orange soda, 23 milligrams. That's actually quite a bit, and who would have thought orange soda would have caffeine in it. Eight ounces of Mountain Dew, I think many people know that Mountain Dew has caffeine, you might be surprised by how many, 37 milligrams of caffeine. So Mountain Dew has more caffeine in it than Coke, but still, not as much as coffee.

The point of this "Consumer Reports" story is to say, is that you don't always realize that there is caffeine, and don't necessarily realize how much caffeine is in the things you eat and drink, because they don't need to label it. Many products do, but they don't need to label it. And so they say keep aware of what you're doing, especially if you have children. I know children drink coke all the time and children eat coffee ice cream. And if your kids are feeling agitated, you might wonder why, and think back to what they have eaten. It all adds up -- a can of coke here, a can of Sunkist orange soda there, a little bit of chocolate. It can all add up to what might be too much caffeine for certain children.

Now, Heidi, we contacted these companies. Sunkist orange soda and Haagen-Dazs did not have a comment. Coke and Mountain Dew, said they put in just the amount they need to get the desired taste.

COLLINS: Interesting, though, that parents often think that it's the sugar in that makes their kids crazy. Maybe it's actually the caffeine sometimes.

COHEN: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I think especially soda, I've watched parents give kids soda after soda after soda, without realizing there could be a whole lot of caffeine in there. It adds up. One in the morning, one in the middle of the day, one in the evening. That can add up to quite a bit of caffeine.

COLLINS: Yes, my personal favorite, a Diet Coke with the Haagen- Dazs ice cream.

COHEN: There you go. You'd be really awake.

COLLINS: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

COHEN: You're welcome.

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 - 11:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Before we went to the break in our "Daily Dose" question of the day, we were asking which has more caffeine, one cup of Haagen-Dazs ice cream -- coffee ice cream, in particular actually or a can of Coke? So, which is it?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ta-da, this one. The coffee ice cream has more caffeine than a can of coke, which I think people might find surprising. Let's look at the numbers. The can of coke has 34.5 milligrams of caffeine, and the cup of ice cream has 48 milligrams of caffeine.

COLLINS: Wow.

COHEN: Very interesting. There are many things you might not know have caffeine. This is based on a "Consumer Reports" study that came out recently. They were interested in seeing how much caffeine do certain products have.

First of all, if you look at a cup of instant coffee, 95 milligrams, well, 12 ounces of Coke has 34.5 milligrams. One cup of Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream, as we just saw, has 48 milligrams, and then the one most the "Consumer Reports" found most surprising was 8 ounces of Sunkist orange soda, 23 milligrams. That's actually quite a bit, and who would have thought orange soda would have caffeine in it. Eight ounces of Mountain Dew, I think many people know that Mountain Dew has caffeine, you might be surprised by how many, 37 milligrams of caffeine. So Mountain Dew has more caffeine in it than Coke, but still, not as much as coffee.

The point of this "Consumer Reports" story is to say, is that you don't always realize that there is caffeine, and don't necessarily realize how much caffeine is in the things you eat and drink, because they don't need to label it. Many products do, but they don't need to label it. And so they say keep aware of what you're doing, especially if you have children. I know children drink coke all the time and children eat coffee ice cream. And if your kids are feeling agitated, you might wonder why, and think back to what they have eaten. It all adds up -- a can of coke here, a can of Sunkist orange soda there, a little bit of chocolate. It can all add up to what might be too much caffeine for certain children.

Now, Heidi, we contacted these companies. Sunkist orange soda and Haagen-Dazs did not have a comment. Coke and Mountain Dew, said they put in just the amount they need to get the desired taste.

COLLINS: Interesting, though, that parents often think that it's the sugar in that makes their kids crazy. Maybe it's actually the caffeine sometimes.

COHEN: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I think especially soda, I've watched parents give kids soda after soda after soda, without realizing there could be a whole lot of caffeine in there. It adds up. One in the morning, one in the middle of the day, one in the evening. That can add up to quite a bit of caffeine.

COLLINS: Yes, my personal favorite, a Diet Coke with the Haagen- Dazs ice cream.

COHEN: There you go. You'd be really awake.

COLLINS: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

COHEN: You're welcome.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com