 |
Food Standards Agency publishes new caffeine advice for pregnant women
3 November 2008
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued new advice to pregnant women on daily caffeine consumption. This follows research carried out on behalf of the Agency by the Universities of Leeds and Leicester.
Pregnant women are being advised to limit their daily caffeine intake, ideally keeping this below 200mg a day. This is roughly two mugs of coffee a day, although caffeine is also present in tea, chocolate, some soft drinks, and certain medicines.
Too much caffeine might result in a baby having a lower birth weight than it should, which can increase the risk of some health conditions for the baby in later life, or could possibly result in spontaneous miscarriage.
The Agency had previously set a maximum daily intake of 300mg. However, the new research suggests, that although the risk is low, a limit of 200mg per day will help to minimise the risk further. The research showed that the average daily caffeine intake during pregnancy was already below 200mg, so for many pregnant women this change in advice will not affect them.
Andrew Wadge, FSA Chief Scientist, said: 'This new advice doesn’t mean that pregnant women have to cut out caffeine completely, simply that they should be careful and make sure they don't have too much. We would emphasise that the risks are likely to be very small and believe our new advice, which is based on new research and has been considered by leading independent scientists, is sensible and proportionate.'
The Agency says that for pregnant women who have been following the previous advice and limiting consumption to below 300mg a day should not be concerned, as the risk is likely to be very low. They are advised not to worry and to simply reduce their caffeine consumption to less than 200mg a day for the remainder of their pregnancy. If there are still concerns they should seek further advice from their midwife or GP.
Full FSA advice:
You should limit the amount of caffeine you have each day, but you don't need to cut it out completely. Caffeine occurs naturally in a range of foods, such as coffee, tea and chocolate, and it's also added to some soft drinks and 'energy' drinks.
The amount of caffeine in food and drink will vary, but as a guide each of these contains roughly 200mg or less of caffeine:
• 2 mugs of instant coffee (100mg each)
• 1 mug of filter coffee (140mg each)
• 2 mugs of tea (75mg each)
• 5 cans of cola (up to 40mg each)
• 2 cans of 'energy' drink (up to 80mg each)
• 4 (50g) bars of plain chocolate (up to 50 mg each). Caffeine in milk chocolate is about half that of plain chocolate
So if you eat a bar of plain chocolate and drink one mug of filter coffee, or if you drink two mugs of tea and a can of cola you'll have almost reached 200mg. But don’t worry too much if you occasionally have a little more because the risks are likely to be very small.
If you are pregnant and were already following the previous advice and limiting consumption to below 300mg a day, the risk is likely to be very small. Try to reduce your caffeine consumption to less than 200mg a day for the remainder of your pregnancy. Remember that caffeine is also found in certain cold and flu remedies, so always check with your GP or another health professional before taking any of these.
|
