A systematic review of caffeine effects in healthy populations has been named Food and Chemical Toxicology’s Best Paper of the Year (2017). Lead author and ToxStrategies toxicologist Dr. Daniele Wikoff received the notification from Editor-in Chief Dr. José Domingo, in which he noted that the co-Editors selected their top eight favorite articles, and the full roster of Associate Editors voted to name the best overall.
The seminal systematic review involved screening more than 5,000 papers, and critical assessment of more than 350 studies. Following evaluation of the body of the evidence, the multidisciplinary study team (which included eight ToxStrategies scientists among the 15 authors) concluded that “consumption of up to 400 mg caffeine/day in healthy adults is not associated with overt, adverse effects.” The evidence also supports 300 mg caffeine/day as a non-harmful intake for healthy pregnant women, a level that “is generally not associated with adverse reproductive and developmental effects.” The authors suggest that their findings support “a shift in caffeine research” to focus on unhealthy and sensitive populations and inter-individual variability.
The announcement of the 2017 Best Paper award is on the website of Food and Chemical Toxicology, and the winning manuscript is available for open access here.