Attogene’s Caffeine Test Kit (Field Use) screens drinks for caffeine in 15 minutes, with no pipettor or power needed. Each drink is diluted 1:400 in a bottle of Sample Dilution Buffer using a fixed-volume pipette, then read by eye or with a lateral flow reader. Each sample is read against its own negative control.
- Format: 10 cassettes (5 samples, each with its own negative control)
- Run time: 15 minutes
- Cutoff: 10 ppb caffeine in the diluted drink, which is about 4 ppm (4,000 ppb) in the original drink
- Samples: coffee, tea, soft drinks, energy drinks and other drinks
- Kit contents: 10 caffeine cassettes; 10 bottles of Sample Dilution Buffer (30 mL); 10X Running Buffer concentrate (5 mL); 10 fixed-volume pipettes (75 µL); 10 fixed-volume pipettes (200 µL); manual
Caffeinated drinks give a strong positive result. Most decaffeinated coffees still contain enough caffeine to read as a low positive: brewed decaf typically has 2–15 mg per 8 oz cup, about 8,400–63,300 ppb. Caffeine-free drinks read negative.
Typical caffeine in soft drinks (12 oz, 355 mL):
- Mountain Dew Zero Sugar: 68 mg (about 190,000 ppb)
- Mountain Dew or Diet Mountain Dew: 54 mg (about 152,000 ppb)
- Diet Coke: 46 mg (about 130,000 ppb)
- Dr Pepper: 41 mg (about 115,000 ppb)
- Coke, Coke Zero or Pepsi: 34–38 mg (about 96,000–107,000 ppb)
- Barq’s Root Beer: 22 mg (about 62,000 ppb); most root beers are caffeine-free
- Caffeine-free sodas: 0 ppb
For laboratory testing of urine, water and drinks, see the Caffeine Test Kit (Laboratory Use), AU2067.
