Sparks, the "caffeinated alcohol beverage with a blend of caffeine, taurine, guarana and ginseng extract," has been around since 2002 and has been owned by Miller since 2006, so it certainly isn't a new phenomenon. However, a number of questionable decisions recently have led to a massive backlash against the beverage and may well spell the end of alcohol/energy drink hybrids on the market.

General sentiment has been building that caffeinated alcohol beverages pose a risk to drinkers, especially for younger and underage drinkers who the beverages' detractors believe the products directly target. In fact, last summer, Anheuser-Busch received enough pressure that they eventually stopped making caffeinated-alcohol products. However, MillerCoors managed not only to slip by, but appears to have decided to do some flaunting.

First, the company announced they would be releasing Sparks Red this October, an addition to the Sparks product line that will have as much as 8% alcohol by volume -- a significant step up from the original Sparks' 6% ABV. Then there was backlash against what many considered to be a raunchy and unethical advertising campaign.

Well, they got publicity, but probably not what they were hoping for. As of yesterday, district attorneys from 25 states have called for the cancellation of the Sparks Red launch and, last week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest sued MillerCoors to stop selling Sparks all together. Public opinion seems to be shutting this industry down.

[Photo Credit: MillerCoors]

The problem with drinking coffee to get your daily caffeine fix is that some people don't really care for the taste, even if it comes in the form of a sweet, milky mocha latte from the nearest coffee bar. Energy drinks partially solved the problem by adding more sugar (or artificial sweeteners) to cover up the taste, but a molecular scientist, Dr. Robert Bohannon, has come up with what he thinks is an even better way to catch a buzz. He has come up with a way to add caffeine to baked goods.

Buzz Donuts and Buzzed Bagels are the first of what will probably be many caffeinated pastries. Bohannon originally had some difficulty in disguising the taste of the caffeine, which has a very bitter flavor on its own, but once he got the flavoring under control, he was able to add quite a lot of caffeine to his products. Each one contains the equivalent of two cups of coffee, or about 100mg per pastry.

Bohannon has already approached Krispy Kreme, Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts about selling his pastries.

In every office, there is someone who has a jar of candy on their desk. It might be a jar of hard candies, jelly beans or M&M's, but there will be a jar and people will inevitably find reasons to walk by it and grab a treat or two on occasion. To give your office mates a buzz, replace the candy jar with Rocket Chocolate. The individually wrapped milk chocolates have 150 mg of caffeine in each piece, which is as much as three cans of Coke and only slightly less than two cans of Red Bull. The creamy chocolate will help to quiet your sweet tooth, but the pick-me-up of the candy is what will really help get you through the afternoon.

Either your co-workers will be grateful for the extra buzz or they'll wonder why their second cup of coffee seems to be affecting them so strongly -- especially if they take more than one chocolate. Just try to make sure you don't let anyone with a caffeine sensitivity grab a piece unknowingly.

It looks like a tongue depressor and when it is stirred into a cup of regular coffee, will remove up to 70% of the caffeine in it. It could potentially revolutionize the coffee industry. The DeCaf Co., a startup based in San Francisco, has been able to apply molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) onto the sticks. As the stick is swirled in the cup, it "grabs" the caffeine molecules and when the stick is removed, so too is the caffeine - all with no change in the aroma or flavor of the coffee.

The company hopes to make the sticks available to restaurants and cafes, which would be able to dispense them with drinks or put them out with the other condiments. They also hope to be able to sell them in-stores, so consumers will always have a decaf option wherever they go.

The sticks will aIso work with other caffeinated drinks, such as teas and sodas. If paired with the caffeine litmus strips that we have seen before, those with sensitivities to caffeine wouldn't have to worry about finding caffeine in an unexpected place, since they could simply stir it out of the drink.

I love most kinds of coffee and I love espresso. There is one misconception about it - whether you like the taste or not - that bugs me. It has to do with the caffeine content and I know otherwise sane adults who shudder at the very thought of having an espresso-based drink while happily downing cups of regular brew. They think that the strong flavor of espresso directly correlates with an exponentially high caffeine content.

Espresso has plenty of caffeine in it and, ounce for ounce, it has more caffeine in it than drip coffee. Here's the thing: one serving of espresso is 1-2 ounces, while a serving of drip coffee ranges from 6-12 ounces. To approximate, as the exact brewing method and quantity of beans used can affect caffeine content, one serving of drip coffee will have 100-200mg of caffeine (17mg/oz). A serving of espresso, which we'll say is 1.5 ounces here, has approximately 50 mg of caffeine (30mg/oz). So, if you only drink one ounce of coffee, you would get less caffeine than with one ounce of espresso. Otherwise, it is likely that you are drinking both more coffee and more caffeine with a regular drip than with a drink that uses one or two shots of espresso, like a latte.

The moral of this story? If you're that concerned with caffeine, order the smallest available size of a drink or ask for decaf. Otherwise, you can relax and enjoy your latte without having to worry that you'll be kept up for the next week.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

It looks like school teachers aren’t the only ones realizing that gum can be a multi-purpose vehicle. In fairness, it has been used as a non-cigarette nicotine delivery system for several years now, but the US army is putting it to more uses.

Stay Alert is a caffeinated gum developed by Wrigley’s. The cinnamon flavored gum has 100-mg of caffeine per piece, equivalent to a 6-ounce cup of coffee. Dr. Balkin, from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research isn’t worried about the possibility of abuse, though people have been known to abuse caffeinated products such as No-Doz in the past, because “the stuff doesn’t taste that good.” There are other brands of caffeinated gum that college students have been using to say alert for some time now. They include Jolt Gum – which has half as much caffeine as Stay Alert – and Penguin Energy Gum.

The army is also in the process of developing a plaque fighting gum for use by soldiers, who are sometimes unable to have regular opportunities to brush and floss due to the duties of combat. This seems like a product that the dental industry could really get behind, once it has completed testing.