Pikabee Scan

Ingredients › Caffeine

Baby food · 0–36 months

Is caffeine safe for babies?

Caffeine and coffee in kids' food and drinks

Caffeine is a stimulant found in coffee, tea, cola and energy drinks, and in smaller amounts in chocolate. Pikabee flags caffeine, coffee and other added stimulants in any food or drink for a child under three.

What Pikabee flags, by age

0–6 monthsRED FLAG

Any food other than breast milk or infant formula is flagged at this age, because WHO advises only breast milk for the first 6 months. Caffeine is flagged too.

6–12 monthsRED FLAG

Flagged. Caffeine and added stimulants are not for babies.

12–36 monthsRED FLAG

Still flagged for a toddler. EFSA, the EU's food agency, found too little information to set a caffeine level for children.

What it is

Caffeine is naturally present in coffee beans, tea leaves, cocoa, guarana and kola nuts, and it is also added on its own to colas and energy drinks. Labels may show it as “caffeine” with an amount, or only as coffee, tea or guarana in the list.

Toddlers usually meet it in iced coffee and cold coffee drinks, flavoured milks, colas, iced teas and chocolate drinks made for adults.

Names it goes by on labels

Why Pikabee flags it

The 2015 caffeine opinion of EFSA, the EU's food agency, found the information too limited to set a caffeine intake for children, and borrowed the adult per-kilo figure instead. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that energy drinks, which carry caffeine and other stimulants, are not for children. Pikabee flags caffeine and added stimulants in any food or drink for a child under three.

How often parents find it

1 of 12

different baby food labels parents have scanned with Pikabee had caffeine, as of 4 November 2026.

Questions parents ask

Is caffeine safe for a baby under 6 months?

Any food other than breast milk or infant formula is flagged at this age, because WHO advises only breast milk for the first 6 months. Caffeine is flagged too.

Is caffeine safe for a 6 to 12 month old baby?

Flagged. Caffeine and added stimulants are not for babies. The 2015 caffeine opinion of EFSA, the EU's food agency, found the information too limited to set a caffeine intake for children, and borrowed the adult per-kilo figure instead.

Is caffeine safe for a 1 to 3 year old?

Still flagged for a toddler. EFSA, the EU's food agency, found too little information to set a caffeine level for children.

Can a 2 year old have coffee?

Pikabee flags coffee and caffeine in food or drink for any child under three.

Is there caffeine in chocolate drinks?

Cocoa has a small amount of naturally occurring caffeine. Pikabee flags caffeine when it is listed as an ingredient, and coffee, guarana or tea extracts when they are.

Scan your label free

Snap the ingredient list on the back of any baby food product. Pikabee shows what's inside in seconds.

Scan your label free Free. No sign-up.

Sources

  1. European Food Safety Authority (2015). Scientific opinion on the safety of caffeine. EFSA Journal 13(5):4102.
  2. American Academy of Pediatrics (2011). Sports drinks and energy drinks for children and adolescents: are they appropriate? Pediatrics 127(6):1182–1189.

Last reviewed 6 November 2026.

Related ingredients

Talk to your pediatrician about anything concerning.