This week, Congressman Rob Menendez (NJ-08) reintroduced the Sarah Katz Caffeine Safety Act, bipartisan legislation to increase transparency of caffeine in food and beverages. The bill is named in memory of Sarah Katz, who died in 2022 after consuming an energy drink.
The bill introduces a number of new policies on caffeine in beverages, including:
- Requiring restaurants to disclose if a menu item contains more than 150 milligrams of caffeine on menus, menu boards, and drive throughs.
- Requiring energy drink companies to label the amount of caffeine or other stimulants in a product.
- Requiring the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) to further study, or to contract with an appropriate entity, how caffeine impacts vulnerable populations.
- Requiring the FDA to update any relevant regulations to better protect certain vulnerable populations and increase transparency around the impacts of caffeine consumption.
- Directing the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control to conduct a public safety education campaign on safe caffeine consumption so that the American public can safely consume caffeine if they choose to do so.
- Authorizing a Government Accountability Office study on how caffeinated beverages are misleadingly marketed, including towards children and teens.
The Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation has endorsed this bill, along with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the John Taylor Babbitt Foundation, Parent Heart Watch, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Consumer Federation of America, and Consumer Reports.
To view the press release, click here.
To watch the press conference, click here.