CompoAtlas

Caféine in food supplements

2,960 supplements declared in France contain Caféine as a substance or active ingredient.

In cosmetics: CAFFEINE.

Other names in the Compl'Alim list: caffeine.

Compl'Alim declarations. Compl'Alim, food supplement declarations (France), retrieved 23 October 2026.

What health agencies say

An opinion says what the agency recommends; it is not a rule binding on the product.

In its opinion on supplements for athletes, ANSES advises against supplements containing caffeine before and during sport, and for people sensitive to its effects.

ANSES, opinion of 7 November 2016, 2014-SA-0008.

BfR warns of a high risk of accidental overdose with pure or highly concentrated caffeine powders. Very small amounts can already cause serious harm to health.

BfR, opinion of 15 October 2024, 46/2024.

Maximum dose in France

Caféine: La quantité présente dans la portion journalière recommandée ne doit pas dépasser 200 mg.

Order of 26 September 2016, Annex I. French orders of 9 May 2006 (nutrients), 24 June 2014 (plants) and 26 September 2016 (other substances), consolidated LEGI collection, retrieved 23 October 2026.

What we know about this ingredient

Uses

  • Beverages, medicine

  • Caffeine is a substance in wide use. It is predominantly used in the food sector and pharma sector (80% and 16% rspectively). A smaller part is used in cosmetics (3%) or in technical applications (1%). Furthermore caffeine is a naturally occurring substance in various plant species (e.g. 0.9 to 2.6% in green coffee beans). It is a component in coffee, tea and cocoa.

  • Stimulant for central nervous and respiratory systems; cardiac and respiratory stimulant; diuretic

PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · Lewis, R.J. Sr.; Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary 15th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY 2007., p. 212; OECD SIDS for Caffeine (CAS 58-08-2); Available from, as of January 9, 2014: https://www.inchem.org/documents/sids/sids/CAFEINE.pdf; O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013., p. 289.

Licence.

Use classification

  • Cosmetics -> Skin conditioning

  • Natural products -> Stimulants -> Nervous System -> Psychoanaleptics -> Psycostimulants, agents used for ADHD and nootropics -> Xanthine derivatives

PubChem : NORMAN Suspect List Exchange · 2026-10-29 · S13 | EUCOSMETICS | Combined Inventory of Ingredients Employed in Cosmetic Products (2000) and Revised Inventory (2006) | DOI:10.5281/zenodo.2624118; S66 | EAWAGTPS | Parent-Transformation Product Pairs from Eawag | DOI:10.5281/zenodo.3754448.

Licence.

A molecule found naturally in plants or organisms; in a supplement it may be extracted from them, made by fermentation or synthesised: the declaration does not say which.

Basis: one CosIngThe European Commission's database of cosmetic ingredients. CAS and natural occurrence recorded in Wikidata (LOTUS database).

Wikidata: names of substances in six languages and taxa in which they occur (largely from the LOTUS database), retrieved 23 October 2026.

Natural occurrence recorded in Wikidata (LOTUS database): 72 taxa; examples: Coffea arabica, Coffea canephora, Camellia sinensis, Camellia oleifera, Ilex paraguariensis.

Wikidata: names of substances in six languages and taxa in which they occur (largely from the LOTUS database), retrieved 23 October 2026.

Manufacturing

  • Caffeine is isolated by solvent extraction from green coffee beans and tea leaves. The Zosel high-pressure extraction process is a more sophisticated procedure involving supercritical carbon dioxide, resulting in mild, selective, and toxicologically safe decaffeination.

  • Caffeine may be isolated from tea or coffee by boiling with water in the presence of lime or magnesium oxide, which serves to precipitate the tannins and some of the coloring matter. After filtration, the crude caffeine that separates in recrystallized from hot water after treatment with decolorizing charcoal. A source of the commercial supply is tea dust or sweepings. Increasing quantities of caffeine are now obtained as a byproduct in the manufacture of "decaffeinized coffee."

  • Caffeine occurs naturally in tea and coffee, but is prepared synthetically for commercial drug use.

  • Usually obtained from tea dust in which it is present up to 5% or as a by-product from the manufacture of caffeine-free coffee; synthetically prepared starting with dimethylurea and malonic acid.

PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · Lenz HH; Purine Derivatives. Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 7th ed. (1999-2014). NY, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Online Posting Date: June 15, 2000; Troy, D.B. (Ed); Remmington The Science and Practice of Pharmacy. 21 st Edition. Lippincott Williams & Williams, Philadelphia, PA 2005, p. 1551; American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2013; Drug Information 2013. Bethesda, MD. 2013, p. 2569; Burdock, G.A. (ed.). Fenaroli's Handbook of Flavor Ingredients. 6th ed.Boca Raton, FL 2010, p. 230.

Licence.

Appearance

  • Hexagonal prisms

  • White, fleecy masses or long, flexible, silky crystals

  • White, prismatic crystals

  • Caffeine appears as odorless white powder or white glistening needles, usually melted together. Bitter taste. Solutions in water are neutral to litmus. Odorless. (NTP, 1992)

PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013., p. 289; Lewis, R.J. Sr.; Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary 15th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY 2007., p. 212; International Labour Office. Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and Safety. Vols. I&II. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office, 1983., p. 118.

Licence.

PubChem : CAMEO Chemicals · 2026-10-29 · National Toxicology Program, Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health (NTP). 1992. National Toxicology Program Chemical Repository Database. Research Triangle Park, North Carolina..

Licence.

Odour described

  • Odorless

PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013., p. 289.

Licence.

Taste described

  • Bitter taste

PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2013., p. 289.

Licence.

Associated research

ClinicalTrials.gov · A trial is not proof: it tests a hypothesis.

2026-11-01

Other names: Coffein (German), cafeína (Spanish), caffeina (Italian), cafeína (Portuguese).

Wikidata: names of substances in six languages and taxa in which they occur (largely from the LOTUS database), retrieved 23 October 2026.

Same substance in cosmetics: CAFFEINE.

In plain words

À quoi il sert, selon les fabricants

Objectifs les plus souvent annoncés pour les compléments qui en contiennent (Caféine) : sport (1412 produits), minceur / brûleur (305 produits), concentration (280 produits), gestion du poids / minceur (233 produits), système nerveux (124 produits).

Ce sont les objectifs déclarés par les fabricants à l'administration, pas des effets démontrés. Sur l'emballage, seules les allégations de santé autorisées par l'Union peuvent être écrites.

Compl'Alim, food supplement declarations (France), retrieved 23 October 2026.

What the registers say, country by country

Each line repeats what an official register says on the date it was consulted. Not being in a register means neither allowed nor banned.

Health claims register (European Union): 0 authorised and 6 refused claim(s) for this substance.

EU Register of nutrition and health claims, retrieved 21 October 2026.

Compl'Alim ingredient list (France): listed.

Compl'Alim, reference list of ingredients, retrieved 21 October 2026.

Canada, licensed natural health products (LNHPD): 35 products.

Licensed Natural Health Products Database (LNHPD), Health Canada: licensed products, ingredients, doses, uses and risks, retrieved 27 October 2026.

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada (Health Canada, LNHPD)

Licence du gouvernement ouvert – Canada 2.0 (OGL-Canada 2.0)

United States, supplement labels (DSLD; supplements need no prior approval): 1991 products.

Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD), US National Institutes of Health: current and off-market labels, retrieved 27 October 2026.

Source: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, Dietary Supplement Label Database (CC0); US market labels.

United States, supplements listed by the USDA: 50 products.

USDA FoodData Central Branded, supplement cohort, retrieved 29 October 2026.

Source : U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, Branded Foods. Données publiées sous CC0 1.0 Universal, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/.

CC0 1.0 Universal, domaine public

Declared daily quantities

Declared daily quantities: Caféine
UnitProductsMedianMinimumMaximum
mg10151450.04200

Calculated from Compl'Alim declarations that provide a quantity. These are quantities declared by manufacturers, not measurements, and preparation is not distinguished (powder, extract of varying concentration): differences between products can be very large.

Products