Caffeine Intake from Beverages in German Children,Adolescents, and Adults

摘要

Background: Several beverage categories contain caffeine, either naturally (coffee, tea) or as additive (soft drinks, such as cola, or energy drinks). No knowledge exists about the population-based caffeine intake in Germany, and if its level exceedsthresholds.Methods: The caffeine content of coffee (n= 146), tea (n= 144), energy drinks (n = 188), caffeinated soft drinks (n = 231), and caffeinated alcopops (n= 22) from the German market is taken from own chemical analyses. The intake of beverages for childrenand adolescents between 10-18, for 2004-2010, was estimated using data from the Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) study. Beverage consumption data for 14-80-year olds were taken from the representative second national nutrition survey. The caffeine intake was probabilistically estimated combining the analytical data with the dietary survey data. Results: The average and 95th percentile caffeine contents were 0.09 and 0.25 g/L (caffeinated alcopops), 0.10 and 0.15 g/L (cola), 0.29 and 0.37g/L (energy drinks), 0.22 and 0.52 g/L (tea), and 0.25 and 0.50 g/L (coffee). The average caffeine intake in adolescents (DONALD study data; n =941) was 0.3mg/kg body weight (bw)/day. In the subgroup of 348 caffeine consumers, theaverage intake was 0.9mg/kg bw/day. The national nutrition survey data show that the caffeine intake increases till the age group 35-50. The average intake was 2.1 mg/kg bw/ day predominantly from coffee and tea.Conclusions: On a population basis, caffeine intake appears not to be of concern. However, youth high-level consumers (less than 5% in our sample) could constantly exceed the maximum recommended intake.