Getting Your Caffeine Fix With Ease
In case guzzling down cups of coffee and cans of Diet Coke or Red Bull just doesn't deliver enough caffeine to your bloodstream, manufacturers are now considerately adding caffeine to food: As well as the supercharged versions of gum, candy and even instant oatmeal that are available, a company has introduced Engobi, the world's first "caffeine infused munchie." As Slate reporter Mason Currey discovers, Engobi is a sugary puff whose packaging promises to help you "to get wired. I mean really wired."
Currey tests and compares other caffeinated foods, including Morning Spark Cranberry Apple Natural Energy Instant Oatmeal and various mints and gum, but for "sheer potency" Engobi wins: "I felt like my eyes had been hooked up to tiny batteries," says Currey. "Something in my neck twitched violently."
As for how consuming lots of caffeine effects your longterm health—well, depending on the day's headlines, it will either protect you from fatal disease or give you a stroke. But in the meantime, you'll get more work done!
