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A controversial proposal could require manufacturers to add warning labels to products with caffeine. This would apply only to products with added caffeine like sodas, energy drinks, diuretics and stay-awake drugs. Coffee, tea and chocolate would be exempt.
The California law that passed in 1986, called Proposition 65, requires that products containing toxins linked to cause cancer or reproductive harm should be properly labeled. Caffeine consumption by pregnant women is associated increased fetal breathing activity and behavior, increased breech births, increased tremors and irregular heartbeat in new born babies.
Caffeine was first discovered to be of potential harm to pregnant women by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1980. It was found that caffeine crosses the placental and blood brain barrier and it is thought that the fetus may not have the enzymes necessary to detoxify itself of caffeine through a process known as demethylation. Some scientists have also tried to determine how caffeine interferes with fetal cell growth and development. Evidence shows that caffeine can produce chromosomal aberrations in human cells but this is the subject of ongoing debate.
Caffeine consumption, when combined with diseases such as diabetes, can compound the risks to the fetus. One study found that the more caffeine a pregnant woman with diabetes consumes during the first trimester of her pregnancy, the less likely her body is to release enzymes that signal maintenance of the pregnancy. This can be seen as an indication of the impending loss of the pregnancy and implies that over time, caffeine has negative effects on pregnancy.
“My organization supports this proposal because it allows consumers to make informed choices” says Marina Kushner, founder of the Caffeine Awareness Alliance. “However I feel that warning labels should apply to coffee and tea products as well. A Starbucks 20 ounce coffee contains 415 mg of caffeine. With as little as 200 mg of caffeine, you can experience typical addictive symptoms such as irritability, restlessness, tension, insomnia, excitement, and gastrointestinal disturbance. If you ingest more than 1 gram (1000 mg), you can experience irregular heartbeats, panic and anxiety disorders, muscle twitching, incoherent speech, excessive urination, flushed skin, and depression. And, believe it or not, when you take over 5 grams of caffeine, the results can be fatal.” said Kushner.
Kushner strives to educate through her book, "The Truth About Caffeine -- How Companies That Promote It Deceive Us and What We Can Do About It." The book has been described by critics as a "wake-up call" about caffeine and reveals "frightening evidence" of the damage caffeine can cause. The book reveals many serious physical and psychological effects of caffeine and the damaging effects on the public.
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ncam[.]caffeineawareness.org 
