Caffeine is certainly one of America’s most popular drugs, and having a cup of coffee or tea each day sure does feel good when you’re sleep-deprived. So when a new product called AeroShot was recently introduced, enticing consumers to suck in flavored caffeinated powder, it caught my attention.

On the one hand, AeroShot is cheaper than a medium-sized flavored latte at Starbucks and it’s small enough to stick in your pocket and take anywhere, so it sounds like something that might be useful whenever you need a boost. On the other hand, while the caffeine that AeroShot contains is natural (according to the company), there’s nothing “natural” about sucking in powder. And does it give the same surge of energy that a coffee-based drink would?

Though AeroShot is already on the market, the FDA is evaluating the product’s safety, and other medical groups, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, have concerns. Curious to find out whether the product is actually as benign as coffee or tea, I talked to an expert.

SUCKING IN POWDER

AeroShot ($2.99 on www.AeroShots.com) is surprisingly basic considering the hype. In fact, I tested it out. It’s a lipstick-sized tube—you just pull the tube open, put your mouth over one end of the tube and gently suck in the lime-, raspberry- or green apple-flavored caffeine powder. (It brought back memories of Pixy Stix, actually.) The powder dissolves in your mouth and you swallow it. Be forewarned—it’s bitter!

According to the company, each tube contains B vitamins, niacin, and a total of about 100 mg of caffeine—about the same as in an eight-ounce cup of coffee. You can suck in all 100 mg of caffeinated powder at once or take it in four to six small doses over time. The company suggests using no more than three 100-mg AeroShots per day.

THE FDA VS. AEROSHOT

Here’s the main concern with the product. You don’t technically breathe in the powder—you suck it in. But when you suck it in, how can you be sure that some of it doesn’t accidentally get into your lungs? The company claims that because each granule of powder is above 10 microns in size, each is too large to accidentally make it into the lungs. But the American Academy of Pediatrics questions that claim, and that’s why the FDA is continuing to evaluate the product’s safety. The concern is that the powder might irritate or infect the lungs. “Caffeine is not normally inhaled into the lungs, and the safety of doing so has not been well-studied,” the FDA said in a news release.

IS IT SAFE?

To learn more, I called Daniel P. Evatt, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow and researcher at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, who specializes in drugs of dependence and abuse such as nicotine, alcohol and—yes—caffeine.

I asked him whether AeroShot is safe. Physiologically, said Dr. Evatt, caffeine from the powder is absorbed at the same rate as it would be from coffee, an “energy drink” or any other source. So it doesn’t “hit you” any harder, he said.

The powder does make an AeroShot easy to overuse. While an adult may be wise enough to use one responsibly, I worry that a young teen or college student might not be. The company doesn’t recommend that people under age 18 use the product, but of course they will. Kids who want to party all night long might use far more than three AeroShots per day while drinking alcohol so that the caffeine masks how intoxicated they actually are. And even by itself, too much caffeine can cause side effects including the jitters, heart palpitations and an upset stomach.

As with many things—moderation!