Bloomberg News (12/23, Edney) reports AeroShot Pure Energy, a caffeine inhaler, “dispensed from canisters that fit in jean pockets and are allowed in carry-on luggage is a ‘club drug’ that may be dangerous to teenagers,” Democrat Charles Schumer said. The senator “wrote Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg today asking her to review the safety and legality of the AeroShot Pure Energy caffeine inhaler, a yellow and gray canister of caffeine powder and B vitamins resembling a tube of lipstick,” which “is set to hit store shelves in New York and Boston next month.” Schumer says if the caffeine inhaler is “taken with alcohol, the mixture may have effects similar to caffeinated alcohol drinks tied to hospitalizations in the past.” According to a FDA spokesman’s email, the agency will review information related to the product.
“US Sen. Charles E. Schumer fired off a letter to the Food and Drug Administration today, urging it to ask the maker of a lipstick-sized inhalable caffeine canister set to hit store shelves in Boston and New York on New Year’s Day to back up its claims that the product is safe,” the Boston Herald (12/23, Szaniszlo) reports. “According to the Cambridge-based company’s website, ‘AeroShot’ delivers an airborne shot of caffeine powder,” which “does not enter the lungs, but rather is dissolved in the mouth and swallowed,” the company’s materials claim.
The AP (12/23) points out that “its manufacturer, Breathable Foods, says each AeroShot contains as much caffeine as a cup of coffee plus B vitamins” and “is safe but is not intended for children under 12.”