Caffeine Strips: The Latest Stimulant to Hit RI

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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Maggie Lange, GoLocalProv Contributor

The one-upmanship that beverage companies undertake to promise convenient and rapid boosts of caffeine seems as endless as the energy that they promise. Red Bull markets a bottle of jittery invigoration in 8.4 ounces, while products like Five Hour Energy promise ceaseless verve in just 1.93 ounces—this trend has only been inverted by the Starbucks' Trenta, a 31-ounce cup of iced-coffee that boasts more than a wine bottle full of liquid.  

The stakes have been raised to the nth degree by Sheets energy strips, which have recently hit the market and within the month have appeared on shelves in Rhode Island. Now, you can acquire the equivalent caffeine of a shot of espresso in a paper-thin strip as small as a stamp, placed right on the tongue. Sheets energy strips pledge hours of invigoration without the hassle of liquids, bloating, and extra calories.  

Sheets are sold for six dollars a box, and they come in two flavors: Berry Blast and Cinnamon Rush. Each strip advertises containing Vitamins E, B5, B6, and B12. What the front of the box doesn’t mention is that each sheet also contains 100 mg of caffeine, which is similar to a shot of espresso, a cup of good coffee, or about two caffeinated sodas.  

Miriam nutritionist: "horrified"

“In a word: horrified,” said Mary Flynn, PhD, a nutritionist with Miriam Hospital and Brown University, of her initial response to the little energy boosters.   

The Berry and Cinnamon flavoring are typical of gum or candy flavors, and Flynn believes that this marketing is aimed at the younger set. “Kids will think they are candy or breath sticks—and I bet some adults will also,” she says. “They should at least have a less appealing flavor. I am wondering how many parents will even know they have caffeine in them?”  

Lebron James says to Take a Sheet

If you haven’t heard of Sheets yet, soon you will. The company just began a $10 million promotional campaign. Lebron James of NBA fame co-founded the company and stars in the early advertisements (along with fellow NBAer Amar'e Stoudemire, shown above). James is shot in stylish black-and-white emphasizing a red strip placed on this tongue, like early Gatorade commercials where athletics would sweat the liquid. The ad promises that Sheets will be “The New Way To Do Energy.” 

Flynn says that many people don’t understand that energy drinks contain caffeine, and it will be even more unlikely that they will assume this is true of products that appear to be breath-strips. “The fact they are just called 'Sheets’ is just plain wrong,” she says. “Definitely dishonest.” 

Sheets are currently sold in Rhode Island at GNC.

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