Today, the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies published its Scientific Opinion regarding the safety of caffeine. For healthy adults, the panel’s opinion is that single doses of caffeine up to 400 mg per day--which may include coffee or interactions with energy drinks or alcohol--"do not give rise to safety concerns.” For comparison sake, a 16 oz coffee is about 330 mg.

More specifically, habitual caffeine consumption up to 400 mg per day is harmless for non-pregnant adults. For pregnant women, the safe amount of habitual caffeine consumption is capped at 200 mg per day. The EFSA also deems this amount safe for lactating women who are breastfeeding.

Although the EFSA did gather a wealth of information for this study, no reliable caffeine consumption recommendations could be established for children and adolescents.

The EFSA caffeine study came to fruition after a formal request from the European Commission. Some countries had been questioning the safety of caffeine, its effects on the human body and possible health risks to unborn fetuses. This is the first time that Europe has its own benchmark for caffeine consumption.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration has already recommended that 400 mg of caffeine per day has no negative health effects in adults.