The average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before he or she graduates high school, according to the U.S.-based National Peanut Board. But there is a dispute over a new peanut butter.
It is called S-T-E-E-M, or STEEM Peanut Butter. This peanut butter adds a new ingredient: caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant that helps people become more awake or energetic. Coffee is a popular morning drink because it has caffeine and gives people energy in the morning. But medical experts worry about adults who rely too heavily on caffeine. Even small amounts of caffeine can be dangerous to children, says the American Academy of Pediatrics. United States Senator Charles Schumer says he worries about the effects on children from a product never before associated with caffeine.
“To think that peanut butter, one of the snacks most closely associated with children, might have to be stored in the medicine cabinet as opposed to the kitchen cabinet should serve as a jolt to the FDA,” said Schumer, a New York Democrat.
Schumer wants the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate. He noted that earlier the FDA blocked plans for a caffeinated chewing gum.
