Monitoring the consumption of caffeinein our daily beverages
Caffeine is gently finding its way into our body through a diversity of beverages that are within easy reach in supermarkets and stores, and vending machines.
The Consumer Council, in conjunction with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, have conducted a joint test on the caffeine content of some of the common daily beverages.
The test focused on a total of 47 samples comprising coffee (4), energy drinks (11), tea (18), cola (8) and chocolate milk (6). Highlights of the test results on the samples indicated that :
- Coffee, on average, had the highest caffeine content both in terms of per litre and per package.
- Energy drinks took second place for caffeine content per litre. But in terms of per package, energy drinks shared second place with cola drinks.
- When caffeine is used as an ingredient in energy and cola drinks, it should be mentioned in the ingredient list. All energy and cola drink samples with caffeine were found in compliance with such labelling requirement.
- As caffeine is naturally present in such raw materials as coffee beans, tea leaves and cocoa beans, samples of coffee, tea and chocolate milk are not required to label caffeine as an ingredient.
The test report notes that, in general, the daily intake of caffeine from ordinary consumption of beverages will not pose a risk to the health of most people. Some people, however, should be more cautious.
Pregnant women are cautioned not to consume more than 300 mg of caffeine daily. This amount is roughly equivalent to 2 to 3 cans of coffee or 3 cans of milk tea.
Children also should refrain from taking in more than 3 to 5 mg of caffeine per kg body weight daily. This means, for example, a 30-kg child should not take in 90 to 150 mg of caffeine which is roughly equivalent to 2 to 4 cans of cola drinks. Parents should be alert on the consumption of cola drink of their children as this is likely to be the major source of caffeine in children's diet.
In the test, 2 samples of energy drinks were detected to possess the highest concentration of caffeine at over 900 mg per litre. In view of their small volume per bottle (at 50 ml each), it is not likely that normal consumption should cause an excessive intake of caffeine in adults.
Children, pregnant women and persons sensitive to caffeine are advised to limit their consumption of beverages with high caffeine concentration.
The Consumer Council recommends that drinks containing artificially introduced caffeine should label, in addition to listing it out as an ingredient, the amount of caffeine present so that consumers can effectively monitor the total amount of caffeine they take in every day in the interest of health.
Safety of summer study tours comes first
Safety and health are the two single most important factors which parents should be concerned with when choosing study tours for their children this summer.
Parents are strongly urged to make extensive enquiries and seek clarification with the tour operators on the provisions related to safety measures and health facilities.
A Consumer Council survey has found information provided by most study tour operators to be lacking and inadequate in these vital areas.
The survey focused on 35 UK (English) and 17 China (Putonghua) study tours scheduled for departure from July onwards. The UK tours, of 2 to 3-week duration, were priced from about $20,000 to $29,000, while the China tours, of 2-week duration, ranged from about $9,000 to $13,000.
According to the survey, most study tours emphasised instead on the prestige of the universities and colleges, where the study would be conducted, as a main selling point to attract consumers.
But what consumers may not be aware is that some of these institutions may be involved in only providing their facilities, i.e. classrooms and dormitories, for use by the tour participants.
In some cases, the academic programmes and activities are conducted, independent of these institutions, by the local educational bodies or language centres which organise these tours.
The certificates issued at the end of the study may not necessarily bear any direct relationship to the universities or colleges concerned. Consumers are advised to clarify this with theorganisers.
The Council - and parents - should be rightly concerned over the health and safety aspects of these study tours as they are open to children aged from as low as 7 years old to 16 or above.
In view of the survey findings, the Council has put forward these recommendations to study tour operators:
- In addition to safety measures and health arrangements, to provide all relevant information, in their sales brochures, such as the background of the study instructors, the ratio of tour counsellor to students (mostly 1:15 and 1:20 as found in the survey), and the certificate issuing authority.
- To train and equip the tour counsellors with the necessary skills for the task of looking after young students.
- To ensure, in particular, the safety of the accommodation where the students will be housed, e.g. that the fire facilities are up to the required standard and fire safety guidance is made available to all tour participants.
Parents, on the other hand, are advised to consider not solely the quality of the programme or the prestige of the universities and colleges advertised but, amongst others, the sports activities offered such as horse riding, rafting, scuba diving or even swimming which may pose potential hazards to some children; and the quality of the host families such matters as whether they smoke, the number and status of family members living together, etc.
Check also if there are adequate health facilities and support in the event of illness, and if the tour operators possess Travel Agents Licence with access to protection of the Travel Industry Compensation Fund. Consider also buying travel insurance.
Online games industry urged to adopt preventive initiatives to ease health concerns
The Consumer Council is urging the online games industry to adopt preventive initiatives that will help stamp the menace of addiction or over-dependence.
There have been increasing concerns that online games are becoming too popular, especially among the youngsters, with potentially disastrous consequences. Such concerns are heightened by the current suspension of schools due to the atypical pneumonia outbreak.
People who are addicted or become over-dependent to online games have been known to suffer from wrist pain, back pain, physical exhaustion and epileptic convulsions.
The Consumer Council has received a number of complaints related to online games and their products. Parental guidance and sensible precautions are needed when purchasing and playing online games.
The Council has suggested the following preventive initiatives for the consideration of the online game industry:
First, setting the charging unit of point-cards to an hourly basis or even less, and installing an automatic pause function to preclude excessive prolonged playing.
Second, submitting online games or related products for classification voluntarily and releasing the classification result on the product package for the reference of consumers.
Third, introducing a prominent "message box" on the screen to remind players to take a break for rest, and to caution a high-risk groups such as those suffering from heart disease and epileptic convulsion.
The online games industry has responded favourably indicating that these recommendations are technically possible; and that they would effectively help promote better self-discipline and avoid addiction among the players.
Greater parental guidance is urged: consideration should be given to locate the computer in the living room or the bedroom of parents to enable easier parental oversight particularly on the young children. Further, before the purchase of computer, set the ground rules with their children on the use of the computer or internet: for instance, no online games after midnight, and before and during exam period.
Reassuring results on hygienic standard of facial tissues and guidelines on face masks
Besides face masks, facial tissues are in great demand at a time of atypical pneumonia outbreak.
A timely test report on facial tissues was released by the Consumer Council in this April issue of CHOICE. Included in the test were 24 models of boxed facial tissues (12) and mini tissues (12) priced from $2.52 to $7.68 per 100 sheets and $0.27 to $1.93 per 10 sheets respectively.
Top on the agenda of the test was to assess the hygienic standard of these products - with reference to the GB 15979 Hygienic Standard for Disposable Sanitary Products.
The result is reassuring: a clean bill of health for all samples which were found to be in compliance with the required standard.
So, do use a facial tissue to cover your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing to prevent the spread of the atypical pneumonia virus. Or to touch any part of your face when your hands are not properly washed.
In addition, the samples were tested on their performance of dry and wet tensile strength, rate of water absorbency, softness, defects on the paper and convenience of use.
The test found variations in the paper strength of the tissues as indicated by the rating of their performance on dry and wet tensile strength. Some were stronger than the others, but overall the samples were considered to be of acceptable quality.
A few of the samples - 4 boxed facial tissues and 2 mini tissues - were found without the number of sheets labelled on their package. Manufacturers are advised to provide this needed information to consumers.
Meanwhile, some tips on facemasks. Consumers are advised to purchase surgical facemasks from reliable retail outlets. In particular the 3-ply facemasks, with the innermost layer being water absorbent and the outer layer water repellent, are recommended.
A facemask should fit snugly over the face to prevent leakage, fully covering the nose, mouth as well as the chin. The metallic wire part of the facemask should be fixed securely over the bridge of the nose. The tie type is considered better than the elastic earloop since the strings can be adjusted to fit the contours of the face.
People with respiratory illness such as asthma, pregnant women, and those who experience breathing discomfort are advised to refrain from the use of N95 respirators.
It is important to remember: wearing a facemask is no substitute to observing good personal hygiene and health to keep the virus at bay.
For further information, consumers can visit the Department of Health website(http://www.info.gov.hk/dh/ap.htm) for the latest update on SARS or call the Department's hotline 1872222.
Alternative water-filter vacuum cleaners vs the traditional types
Keeping the home clean of dust has never been more important before than now.
And if you are contemplating to invest in a state-of-the-art water-filter vacuum cleaner, help is at hand in the latest Consumer Council test report on 4 models of these cleaners priced from $4,000 to $18,000.
In a separate test, the Council evaluated last month 13 models of the canister-type vacuum cleaners within the price range of $300 to $2,700.
A powerful feature of these water-filter vacuum cleaners is its low dust emission. Indeed the emission level was in general lower than that of the traditional vacuum cleaners. Consumers seriously concerned about indoor air quality might find it of great value.
Nonetheless, some research revealed that people suffering from allergy or asthma should not vacuum by themselves, and stay away when vacuum cleaning is in progress.
This is because the faeces from dust mites, ubiquitous in normal households, is recognized as one of the allergens and is likely to become airborne during vacuum cleaning, through movement of the nozzle.
Some of these vacuum cleaners salesmen make claims that they can function also as an air cleaner. However there is doubt that it will be effective as the appliance might not be designed for this task.
Overall, the cleaning performance of the tested samples - on wooden floor and wall edges, threads and fibre on carpet - was satisfactory though only few could excel in cleaning dust from crevices and carpets.
No major hazard was found in the safety tests of the samples.
Cleaning and drying of the water container was deemed less convenient than simply changing the paper bag of the traditional models. These samples were found to be bulky and heavy especially when filled with water.
Considerably more space is needed for the storage of a water-filled vacuum cleaner which is usually equipped with a wide range of accessories such as electro-brush, special nozzles, upholstery tools, etc.
Consumers are advised to consult the recent reports in CHOICE comparing the models for their features, performance, safety and after-sales service.
Highlights of other major reports in this issue of CHOICE:
SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) for hand-held mobile phones
Consumers are advised to choose mobile phones with a new unified label to ensure that the equipment meets the relevant technical specifications on the amount of radiation exposure to the human body. The label indicates that the equipment has been type-approved by the OFTA that it complies with either of 2 commonly adopted international SAR limits.
Consumers can access the OFTA website (www.ofta.gov.hk) to view a list of mobile phones that have been evaluated against and meet with the SAR limits together with the corresponding SAR value. As at l April 2003, a total of 36 mobile phone models had been type-approved by OFTA and authorised to be affixed with a label of a prescribed format.
DVD Players
15 samples of DVD players, 11 of them with karaoke function, were tested. All samples offered good picture quality, but larger variations were found in sound quality and error correction ability (capability to play faulty DVDs or CDs). The safety of the DVD players is generally satisfactory. However, some models exhibited areas for improvement in marking and insulation distance (insufficient insulation distance between live parts may increase the potential risk of flashover).
Chairing the press conference today (March 15) on the publication of CHOICE issue number 318 is Dr. Matthew NG, Chairman of Publicity and Community Relations Committee of the Consumer Council.