People often find Mormons puzzling for many reasons. One issue that keeps coming up is caffeinated drinks. No one understands why we shun tea and coffee but imbibe caffeine in other forms like Pepsi, Coke and, especially, Mountain Dew.

Apparently, Mountain Dew is big in Utah. From the Salt Lake Tribune, "Any good Mormons drink caffeinated sodas? I 'Dew,' says Dew devotee":
Utah has such a strong Mountain Dew following, he says, that the Beehive State typically is one of three or four stops on the nationwide Dew Tour.
Recently, Jorgensen, a Salt Lake City native and practicing Mormon, was selected to be one of the head “consumer creators” of the Dew's newest flavor, White Out, featured in a couple of national commercials. Look for him at the end of the “Here's to the Loud” commercial.
The commercial is embedded below:



The Church's position comes from modern scripture known as "The Word of Wisdom." Hot drinks are specifically prohibited. Modern Church leaders have defined this as tea and coffee. Caffeine is not mentioned.


Current scientific knowledge causes Mormons to extrapolate that caffeine should be shunned as well. So, although you will find some Mormons indulging, others have strong feelings on the matter. Former Utah Governor Olene S. Walker is reputed to have told comedian Bill Cosby:
Caffeine is fine as long as it’s cold.
This quote can be found in "Dews & don't: Yes, Mormons can drink caffeine" also from The Salt Lake Tribune.

My family is not immune to this controversy. A family member, who shall remain nameless, once exclaimed to another family member, who also shall remain nameless, "You let him put Devil Water in your refrigerator?!"


Devil Water=Mountain Dew


I'll just close by saying this is one controversy I want to stay out of.



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