What is it?
Everything I’ve read says The U.S. Food & Drug Administration allows a maximum of 72 mg. of caffeine per 12 oz. serving. I assume this means added caffeine, and not that naturally occurring like in coffee.
But today at thge store I saw Squirt Citrus Power soda that listed it’s caffeine content as 110mg per 12 ounce can ( 
). So what gives? Did the legal content amount get lifted, or is this just an unenforced regulation?
The FDA only regulates added caffeine, and not caffeine derived from “natural” products like tea leaves.
I don’t know the details for this specific product, but my guess is that 40 or so mg of the caffeine is designated natural.
I don’t have a can of pop handy, but if you look at the nutrition facts on the can, it’s proably going to say there are two 6-ounce servings in the can.
I have three different brands of soda with me, from different producers, and all of the 12 oz cans list the serving size as “1 Can.” Even if they said two six-ounce servings, I don’t think the FDA’s limit could be circumvented, since it specifies 12 oz as the “serving size.”
Normally that’s the case with other energy drinks. But the ingredients listed are: sugar, corn syrup, citric acid, taurine, caffeine, modified corn starch, B vitamins, ester gum, and EDTA. No gurrana or other natural caffeine additives.
Usually an ingredient limit like that affects what category the product can be marketed as (such as fat content for ice cream vs. ice milk). Perhaps the 72 mg. limit applies to things marketed as soft drinks rather than as energy drinks? And by adding the “Power” it is marketed as an energy drink?
