A cross between a nicotine pouch and an energy drink: What to know about caffeine pouches.

Teen-friendly promotion of the product is spreading on social media. Adding to the concerns is a caffeine pouch startup from a former Juul marketing executive.

David Gomez, a school resource officer for the Boise County Sheriff’s Office in Idaho, started noticing caffeine pouches last spring. Students were using the pillow-shaped pouches, which can contain more than 200 milligrams of caffeine, alongside nicotine pouches like Zyn.

They’ll use them either as a disguise for nicotine pouch usage — caffeine and nicotine pouches often look virtually identical — or a complement to it, Gomez said.

“They’ll use the Zyn pouches that they put in their lip, and then they’ll take a caffeine pouch,” he added. “They don’t care what it is they’re putting in their lip.”

New Concern over caffeine pouch use: NEWS VIDEO:

The use of caffeine pouches among teens is still relatively rare. But some experts and educators have concerns that that could soon change. Teen-friendly marketing of these products is spreading on social media. And Richard Mumby, the marketing executive who helped launch the e-cigarette Juul, which was widely blamed for sparking a teen vaping epidemic, is back with a caffeine pouch startup called Wip.

Caffeine is part of “the fabric of many Americans’ everyday lives,” Mumby told NBC News — but he argues there’s room for improvement.

The health effects of caffeine pouches are not well-studied. But not all experts are sold on this new form of caffeine delivery.

Rob van Dam, a professor of exercise and nutrition sciences at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health who studies caffeine, voiced concerns about the potency of some pouches on the market, particularly for consumers who are not used to them. “It may be a bit different than coffee,” he said. “It may hit faster, and you may overdose, in a way, more quickly.”
 

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