US senator calls on FDA to regulate potentially dangerous caffeinated peanut butter

STEEM has 170 milligrams of caffeine per serving, and Sen. Charles Schumer is calling for more oversight of the product from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (iStock)

A new brand of peanut butter is packing more than just some extra crunch— it’s loaded with more caffeine than a Red Bull.

STEEM has 170 milligrams of caffeine per serving— and could pose a danger to people who eat it not realizing just how much of a jolt they are getting from an otherwise normal-looking spread, Sen. Charles Schumer warned on Sunday.

“This may look like an ordinary jar of peanut butter, and it may cost the same as a jar of peanut butter, but the fact is, it’s much more dangerous than an ordinary jar of peanut butter,” Schumer said. “There is a new caffeinated product that has goes to where no previous such product has gone before.”

So far, STEEM is sold only at a handful of Massachusetts and Connecticut stores, but Schumer, a Democrat, is worried about the effect it will have if it becomes more readily available and called on the Food and Drug Administration to regulate it.

“The FDA does not require the amount of caffeine to be listed on food labels. So this stuff and other snacks can have a lot of caffeine and the consumer wouldn’t even know,” Schumer said.

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“If they allow it, it can spread to all kinds of other snacks, even Popsicles, candy, things that kids eat. It needs some regulation. We need the FDA to let everyone know they’re not asleep at the wheel about the high levels of caffeine being infused into our snacks.”