Probe into link between caffeine consumption and low birthweight
The Universities of Leicester and Leeds have been commissioned by the Food Standards Agency to study the possible association between maternal caffeine consumption and low birthweight. The Agency has commissioned the study to reduce uncertainties in the current risk assessment and provide a more robust basis for the Agency's advice to pregnant women on caffeine consumption. In October 2001, the Agency advised that pregnant women should limit their caffeine intake to the equivalent of no more than four average cups of coffee a day. The advice was based on the opinion of the Committee on Toxicity (COT) on the reproductive effects of caffeine. Unlike much of the previous research into the poss