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Is caffeine in soft drinks really necessary?

Lynn Riddell and Russell S Keast
Med J Aust 2007; 187 (11): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01463.x
Published online: 3 December 2007

To the Editor: The food environment in Australia and other developed countries is obesogenic. In the United States, personal-injury lawsuits against food and beverage companies are prominent, although proving the addictive nature of a food or its components is challenging. What cannot be questioned is that rates of overweight and obesity among children are increasing, and so are the associated multiple negative health and psychosocial effects.1


  • School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC.


Correspondence: lynn.riddell@deakin.edu.au

  • 1. Magarey AM, Daniels LA, Boulton TJ. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian children and adolescents: reassessment of 1985 and 1995 data against new standard international definitions. Med J Aust 2001; 174: 561-564. <MJA full text>
  • 2. Striegel-Moore RH, Thompson D, Affenito SG, et al. Correlates of beverage intake in adolescent girls: the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study. J Pediatr 2006; 148: 183-187.
  • 3. Nehlig A. Are we dependent upon coffee and caffeine? A review on human and animal data. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 1999; 23: 563-576.
  • 4. PepsiCo Inc. The physical or technical effect of caffeine in cola beverages, July 20, 1981. In: Vol. III, Appendix XII of Comments of the National Soft Drink Association submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration in response to the proposal to delete caffeine in cola-type beverages from the list of substances generally recognized as safe and to issue an interim food additive regulation governing its future use. 29 Jul 1981. (FDA Docket No. 80N-0418.)
  • 5. Keast R, Riddell L. Caffeine as a flavour additive in soft-drinks. Appetite 2007; 49: 255-259.
  • 6. ACNielsen Media Research. Top brands. AdNews 2006; 13 Jan. http://au.acnielsen.com/trends/documents/AdNewsTop100lowres.pdf (accessed Sep 2007).

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