FSA: Guidelines under review
Monday, 21 Jan 2008 11:24
Guidelines on how much caffeine pregnant women should drink are currently under review, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has said.
The agency's comments follow US research which claims drinking more than two cups of coffee (200mg) a day significantly increases the chance of losing a baby during pregnancy.
Current guidelines from the FSA say pregnant women should not drink more than 300mg (three cups of coffee) of caffeinated drinks a day.
This guideline could change, an FSA spokesperson said, in the light of this research as well as a wide-ranging review being undertaken.
"In order to provide a more robust basis for the FSA's advice to pregnant women on caffeine consumption, an FSA-funded study, involving around 2,500 pregnant women, was commissioned in 2003," the spokesperson said.
"This is almost complete and the results will be presented to the committee on toxicity in closed session for consideration.
"We will ask the committee to also look at this new American study. When the committee has reached conclusions the agency will, if appropriate, revise its advice on caffeine consumption in pregnancy."
