Different brands of mate and black tea, chocolate products and carbonated beverages available on the Brazilian market were analysed for caffeine by high-performance Liquid chromatography with a UV-vis detector at 254 nm. The column was a reverse phase C18 and the mobile phase consisted of methanol-water (30:70, v/v), acetonitrile-water (10:90, v/v) and methanol-water (25:75, v/v) for tea, chocolate products and soft drinks respectively. Caffeine content ranged from 1.05 to 15.83 mg per cup in mate tea, from 32.21 to 36.23 mg per cup in black tea, from 0.14 to 0.95 mg g(-1) in chocolate products from 2.73 to 7.49 mg per can in guarana-type soft drinks and from 19.81 to 45.89 mg per can in cola soft drinks. These data indicate that the levels of caffeine in Brazilian teas, chocolates and soft drinks are within the ranges reported for similar products in other countries. (C) 1999 Society of Chemical Industry.791318611864