Laboratory Equipment

FDA to Examine Added Caffeine in Foods

Looking for a new way to get that jolt of caffeine energy? Food companies are betting snacks like potato chips, jelly beans and gum with a caffeinated kick could be just the answer.

The Food and Drug Administration is closely watching the marketing of these foods and wants to know more about their safety. The FDA says it will look at the foods’ effects on children in response to a caffeinated gum introduced this week by Wrigley. Alert Energy Gum promises “the right energy, right now.”

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/fda-examine-added-caffeine-foods

Caffeine Key to Future Cancer Treatments

Researchers from the Univ. of Alberta are abuzz after using fruit flies to find new ways of taking advantage of caffeine’s lethal effects on cancer cells — results that could one day be used to advance cancer therapies for people.

Previous research has established that caffeine interferes with processes in cancer cells that control DNA repair, a finding that has generated interest in using the stimulant as a chemotherapy treatment. But given the toxic nature of caffeine at high doses, researchers from the faculties of medicine and dentistry and science instead opted to use it to identify genes and pathways responsible for DNA repair.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/04/caffeine-key-future-cancer-treatments

Bacteria Can Become Addicted to Caffeine

Some people may joke about living on caffeine, but scientists now have genetically engineered E. coli bacteria to do that — literally. Their report in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology describes bacteria being “addicted” to caffeine in a way that promises practical uses ranging from decontamination of wastewater to bioproduction of medications for asthma.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/03/bacteria-can-become-addicted-caffeine

Bees Enjoy a Caffeine Buzz

You may need a cup of coffee to kick start the day but it seems honeybees also get their buzz from drinking flower nectar containing caffeine.

Publishing in Science, researchers have shown that caffeine improves a honeybee’s memory and could help the plant recruit more bees to spread its pollen. In tests honeybees feeding on a sugar solution containing caffeine, which occurs naturally in the nectar of coffee and citrus flowers, were three times more likely to remember a flower’s scent than those feeding on just sugar.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/03/bees-enjoy-caffeine-buzz

ER Trips Linked to Energy Drinks Have Skyrocketed

A new government survey suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled nationwide during the past four years, the same period in which the supercharged drink industry has surged in popularity in convenience stores, bars and on college campuses.

From 2007 to 2011, the government estimates the number of emergency room visits involving the neon-labeled beverages shot up from about 10,000 to more than 20,000. Most of those cases involved teens or young adults, according to a survey of the nation’s hospitals released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/01/er-trips-linked-energy-drinks-have-skyrocketed

Caffeinated Coffee Significantly Lowers Risk of Oral Cancer

A new American Cancer Society study finds a strong inverse association between caffeinated coffee intake and oral/pharyngeal cancer mortality. The authors say people who drank more than four cups of caffeinated coffee per day were at about half the risk of death of these often fatal cancers compared to those who only occasionally or who never drank coffee. The study is published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The authors say more research is needed to elucidate the biologic mechanisms that could be at work.

Previous epidemiologic studies have suggested that coffee intake is associated with reduced risk of oral/pharyngeal cancer. To explore the finding further, researchers examined associations of caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea intake with fatal oral/pharyngeal cancer in the Cancer Prevention Study II, a prospective U.S. cohort study begun in 1982 by the American Cancer Society.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2012/12/caffeinated-coffee-significantly-lowers-risk-oral-cancer

Monster Energy Drink Cited in 5 Deaths

The highly caffeinated Monster Energy Drink has been cited in five deaths and one non-fatal heart attack, according to reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating. The reports claim that people had adverse reactions after they consumed Monster Energy Drink, which comes in 24-ounce cans and contains 240 milligrams of caffeine, or seven times the amount of the caffeine in a 12-ounce cola.

Although the FDA is investigating the allegations, which date back to 2004, the agency says the reports don’t necessarily prove that the drinks caused the deaths or injuries. “As with any reports of a death or injury the agency receives, we take them very seriously and investigate diligently,” Shelly Burgess, a FDA spokeswoman says.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2012/10/monster-energy-drink-cited-5-deaths

Caffeinated Coffee Linked to Vision Loss

A new study suggests caffeinated coffee drinkers should limit their intake to reduce their chances of developing vision loss or blindness. According to a scientific paper in the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology’s journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, heavy caffeinated coffee consumption is associated with an increased risk of developing exfoliation glaucoma, the leading cause of secondary glaucoma worldwide.

The study is the first to examine the link between caffeinated coffee and exfoliation glaucoma in a U.S. –based population.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2012/10/caffeinated-coffee-linked-vision-loss

Researchers Find Caffeine in Ocean Waters

A new study found elevated levels of caffeine at several sites in Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of Oregon—though not necessarily where researchers expected.

This study is the first to look at caffeine pollution off the Oregon coast. It was developed and conducted by Portland State Univ. master’s student Zoe Rodriguez del Rey and her faculty adviser Elise Granek, assistant professor of Environmental Science and Management, in collaboration with Steve Sylvester of Washington State Univ.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Caffeine-is-Present-in-Ocean-Waters-072012.aspx

Caffeine May Ease Dry Eye

Researchers at the Univ. of Tokyo’s School of Medicine have shown for the first time that caffeine intake can significantly increase the eye’s ability to produce tears, a finding that could improve treatment of dry eye syndrome. This common eye condition affects about four million people age 50 and older in the United States. For many, dry eye syndrome is simply uncomfortable and annoying, but for others it escalates into a vision-threatening disease. All of the 78 participants in the new study produced significantly more tears after consuming caffeine than after taking a placebo. The study is available in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Dry eye syndrome involves malfunction of the rate of tear production, the quality of tears, and/or the rate of evaporate from the surface of the eye. Anyone can experience dry eye, though it is more common among women. Symptoms can include gritty, scratchy or burning sensations, excessive tearing, and/or production of stringy mucus.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Caffeine-May-Ease-Dry-Eye-041812.aspx

Some “Natural” Caffeine Labels Are Lying

That caffeine in your tea, energy drink or other beverage — is it really natural? Scientists are reporting successful use for the first time of a simpler and faster method for answering that question. Their report appears in the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal Analytical Chemistry.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Some-Natural-Caffeine-Labels-Are-Lying-030712.aspx

Image: ACS

App Tells Users When to Lay Off the Coffee

Caffeinated drinks such as coffee and soda are the pick-me-ups of choice for many people, but too much caffeine can cause nervousness and sleep problems. Caffeine Zone, a software app developed by Penn State researchers, can help people determine when caffeine may give them a mental boost and when it could hurt their sleep patterns. The software takes information on caffeine use and integrates it with information on the effects of caffeine to produce a graph of how the caffeine will affect the users over time.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-App-Tells-Users-When-to-Lay-Off-the-Coffee-021512.aspx

Scientist of the Week: Michel Lucas

Every Thursday, Laboratory Equipment features a Scientist of the Week, chosen from the science industry’s latest headlines. This week’s scientist is Michel Lucas, a Research Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health. Lucas and colleagues studied caffeine’s relationship to depression through a survey of 50,739 older women. They found that the risk of depression appears to decrease for women with increasing consumption of caffeinated coffee.

He talks about his work here: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-sow-Lucas-102711.aspx

The original article can be found here: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Coffee-May-Decrease-Risk-of-Depression-092711.aspx

Do you have a question for Michel Lucas? Let us know and we’ll pass it on!

Caffeine Use May Predict Drug Abuse

Parents of young caffeine consumers take heed: that high-calorie energy drink or soda might present more than just obesity risk. In fact, according to a double-blind, placebo-controlled study that examined responses to stimulants, an individual’s subjective response to caffeine may predict how he or she will respond to other stimulant drugs, possibly reflecting differences in risk for abuse of other more serious drugs of abuse, such as amphetamine and cocaine.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Caffeine-Use-May-Predict-Drug-Abuse-100711.aspx