DURHAM, N.C. -- The Durham scientist who brought us caffeine donuts is now back with a bigger buzz.

 

 

He is introducing a whole line of caffeinated breakfast products.

 

Robert Bohannon’s company, Encaff, has created Buzz Donuts, Buzz breakfast bars, and is in negotiations with convenience stores to roll out the products this fall.

 

Bohannon also said that national food companies are interested in using his process to create caffeinated breakfast cereals as well as a powder that could be added to smoothies.

 

“This all started because I was interested in caffeine with my donut, and my wife wanted caffeine with her bagel and orange juice,” Bohannon said. “It took seven years of work but I figured it out.”

 

Bohannon discovered a way to cover the caffeine molecules with a vegetable oil based coating.

 

“This is micro-encapsulated caffeine,” Bohannon explains, pouring a white powder onto a metal plate. “So now the caffeine is tasteless and you can put it in anything."

 

The coffee experiments, along with creating Encaff, were done in his spare time. Bohannon’s full time job is running a lab that develops tests for AIDS and bird flu. 

 

In his spare time now, Bohannon is working on reducing the amount of caffeine in his products, to not over-caffeinate the nation.