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The caffeine contents of dietary supplements commonly purchased in the US: analysis of 53 products with caffeine-containing ingredients

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Abstract

As part of a study initiating the development of an analytically validated Dietary Supplement Ingredient Database (DSID) in the United States (US), a selection of dietary supplement products were analyzed for their caffeine content. Products sold as tablets, caplets, or capsules and listing at least one caffeine-containing ingredient (including botanicals such as guarana, yerba mate, kola nut, and green tea extract) on the label were selected for analysis based on market share information. Two or three lots of each product were purchased and analyzed using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Each analytical run included one or two National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) and two products in duplicate. Caffeine intake per serving and per day was calculated using the maximum recommendations on each product label. Laboratory analysis for 53 products showed product means ranging from 1 to 829 mg caffeine/day. For products with a label amount for comparison (n = 28), 89% (n = 25) of the products had analytically based caffeine levels/day of between −16% and +16% of the claimed levels. Lot-to-lot variability (n = 2 or 3) for caffeine in most products (72%) was less than 10%.

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank NIST for providing SRM 3243 and SRM 3244 materials for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutrient Data Laboratory, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD, USA

    Karen W. Andrews, Amy Schweitzer, Cuiwei Zhao, Joanne M. Holden & Janet M. Roseland

  2. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD, USA

    Mary Brandt

  3. Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Johanna T. Dwyer, Mary Frances Picciano, Leila G. Saldanha, Kenneth D. Fisher, Elizabeth Yetley & Joseph M. Betz

  4. Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Larry Douglass

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  1. Karen W. Andrews
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  2. Amy Schweitzer
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  3. Cuiwei Zhao
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  4. Joanne M. Holden
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  5. Janet M. Roseland
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  6. Mary Brandt
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  7. Johanna T. Dwyer
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  8. Mary Frances Picciano
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  9. Leila G. Saldanha
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  10. Kenneth D. Fisher
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  11. Elizabeth Yetley
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  12. Joseph M. Betz
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  13. Larry Douglass
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Correspondence to Karen W. Andrews.

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Andrews, K.W., Schweitzer, A., Zhao, C. et al. The caffeine contents of dietary supplements commonly purchased in the US: analysis of 53 products with caffeine-containing ingredients. Anal Bioanal Chem 389, 231–239 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-007-1437-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-007-1437-2

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