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   WASHINGTON (AP) - Looking for a new way to get that jolt of caffeine energy? Food companies are betting snacks like potato chips, jelly beans and gum with a caffeinated kick could be just the answer.

   The Food and Drug Administration is closely watching the marketing of these foods and wants to know more about their safety.

   The FDA said Monday it will look at the foods' effects on children in response to a caffeinated gum introduced this week by Wrigley. Alert Energy Gum promises "the right energy, right now."

   The agency is already investigating the safety of energy drinks and energy shots, prompted by consumer reports of illness and death.

 

A few products that have added caffeine:

— Wrigley Alert Energy Gum contains about 40 milligrams a piece, or the equivalent amount found in half a cup of coffee.

— Jelly Belly Extreme Sport Beans have 50 mg of caffeine in a 100-calorie pack.

— Arma Energy Snx markets chips, trail mix and other products that contain caffeine, including "chocolate caramel cookie caffeine mix."

— Wired Waffles sells caffeinated maple syrup and "energy waffles."

— Some varieties of Frito-Lay's Cracker Jack'd Power Bites are coated wafers that include two tablespoons of ground coffee.

— Kraft's Mio Energy "water enhancer" squirts caffeine and flavoring into water.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Diners will have to wait a little longer to find calorie counts on most restaurant chain menus, in supermarkets and on vending machines.

The head of the Food and Drug Administration says writing a new menu labeling law "has gotten extremely thorny" as the agency tries to figure out who should be covered by it.

The 2010 health care law charged the FDA with requiring restaurants and other establishments that serve food to put calorie counts on menus and in vending machines. The agency issued a proposed rule in 2011, but the final rules have since been delayed as some non-restaurant establishments have lobbied hard to be exempt.

The FDA has said the rules may come out this spring, but the agency may not meet that deadline.