Coca-Cola to Put Caffeine Content Information on U.S. Labels

ATLANTA, Feb. 21 (AP) ? The Coca-Cola Company said Wednesday that it would put caffeine content information on the labels of all of its drink products distributed in the United States that include the ingredient.

The company said the plan was voluntary and part of an industry initiative.

On Monday in New York, Simcha Felder, a Democratic city councilman from Brooklyn, said he intended to introduce a nonbinding Council resolution calling for the Food and Drug Administration to require that caffeine content be included in product labels on food and beverages.

The F.D.A. requires that caffeine be included in ingredient lists when added to soft drinks and caffeinated water, but has not required that caffeine content be labeled, even though it has long advised pregnant women to avoid or limit their intake of caffeine.

Coca-Cola, based in Atlanta, said it had already included caffeine labeling on its energy drink Full Throttle and its green tea Enviga products and would introduce the new labels on its other brands, starting with cans of Coca-Cola Classic, in May.

PepsiCo announced plans on Wednesday to introduce a version of Diet Pepsi that includes more caffeine, as well as ginseng, Reuters reported.

The drink, to be called Diet Pepsi Max, will have about a third more caffeine than the company? popular Diet Mountain Dew and is aimed at consumers aged 25 to 34, a Pepsi spokesman said.

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