AeroShot: To Be Reviewed

Invented by Harvard biomedical engineering professor David Edwards, AeroShot is already increasing in popularity among young people. AeroShot went on the market late last month in Massachusetts and New York, and it's also available in France. Consumers put one end of the canister in their mouths and breathe in, releasing a fine powder that dissolves almost instantly.

AeroShot, otherwise known as the caffeine inhaler, is a small lipstick-sized canister that allows one to pump caffeine into the body through the mouth. Each grey-and-yellow plastic canister contains B vitamins, plus 100 milligrams of caffeine powder, about the equivalent of the caffeine in a large cup of coffee.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to investigate whether or not inhalable caffeine is safe for consumers and if it is right to sell it as a dietary supplement. Because it was sold as a dietary supplement before it hit the U.S. market, AeroShot did not require an FDA review. However, New York Senator Charles Schumer met with FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg to discuss its safety and legality. She agreed to conduct a review of the product.

In the Associated Press article “FDA To Review Inhalable Caffeine,” Schumer said "I am worried about how a product like this impacts kids and teens, who are particularly vulnerable to overusing a product that allows one to take hit after hit after hit, in rapid succession.”

Tom Hadfield, chief executive of Breathable Foods, which manufactures AeroShot in France, said in a statement that the company will cooperate fully with the FDA’s review to address the issues raised by Schumer. He expressed confident that the review will conclude AeroShot to be a safe, effective product that complies fully with FDA regulations. Manufacturers include on the label that AeroShot is not recommended for those under 18 and is not marketed to children and warns that it is not to be used more than 3 times a day.

An FDA official who was at the meeting told The Associated Press that the review will include a study of the law to determine whether AeroShot qualifies as a dietary supplement. The product will also be tested to figure out whether it's safe for consumption.