Consumer Federation of America sent the following letter to U.S. Food and Drug Commissioner Robert Califf, urging the agency to clarify food manufacturers’ duty to evaluate the safety of cola-type beverages with excessive caffeine levels, and to take appropriate enforcement actions against manufacturers of unsafe products, including the Panera Bread restaurant chain’s “Charged Lemonade.” As the letter explains, while caffeine is naturally occurring in some foods and beverages like chocolate and coffee, it is a “food additive” in “cola-type beverages” like the Panera Charged Lemonade, and FDA rules designate an upper limit of 0.02% for caffeine in these beverages. Panera’s Charged Lemonade contained roughly double that concentration, calling into question how the company satisfied its legal obligation to determine the drink’s caffeine levels are “generally recognized as safe.” However, FDA has not exercised its authority to request that safety determination, leaving the impression that there are no regulatory consequences even for the most egregiously excessive caffeine levels in sugary drinks.