India to consume more caffeine

New Delhi: Caffeinated drinks can use higher levels of caffeine. The new standards approved by the country’s food safety and standards regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has allowed use of higher levels of caffeine in caffeinated beverages from the set standard of 145 parts per million (ppm) up to 320 mg per litre. It comes with a restriction on the per day consumption of not more than 500 ml.

The new standards which is to be notified soon by the union health ministry,  also prescribe standards for other additives like taurine, riboflavin etc.

In the draft notification the limit of blue tint has been proposed to an extent of 33% in the plastic containers of five litre or above of packaged drinking water.

Till now packaged drinking water is required to be packed in colourless, transparent containers made of poly ethylene and poly ethyle terephthalate. So no usage of blue tint in both packaged and mineral water was allowed.

The standards for beverages like tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages have been also been prescribed under the new regulations.

However according to the new standards it is mandatory for the manufacturers  to print warnings such as ‘caffeinated beverage’, ‘use not more than two cans a day’, ‘not recommended for children, pregnant and lactating women’, ‘not for persons sensitive to caffeine.’

While, caffeine is present in many foods and drugs like coffee, tea, energy drinks and soft drinks, candy bars. Small doses of caffeine increase alertness, however large quantity consumption can lead to  health risks.