Mitt Romney’s coffee ice cream binge from weeks earlier has been given the pass by the Mormon Church. Turns out the whole “caffeine is a no-no” thing was just a great big misunderstanding. The Latter Day Saints church have issued a clarification statement (online, no less) that says caffeine is a-okay – unless it’s hot tea or hot coffee. Via Washington Post:

On Wednesday (Aug. 29), the LDS church posted a statement on its website saying that โ€œthe church does not prohibit the use of caffeineโ€ and that the faithโ€™s health-code reference to โ€œhot drinksโ€ โ€˜โ€™does not go beyond (tea and coffee).โ€

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A day later, the website wording was slightly softened, saying only that โ€œthe church revelation spelling out health practices … does not mention the use of caffeine.โ€

This weekโ€™s clarification on caffeine โ€œis long overdue,โ€ said Matthew Jorgensen, a Mormon and longtime Mountain Dew drinker.

Jorgensen, who is doing a two-year research fellowship in Germany, grew up โ€œin a devout Mormon household, in a small, devout Mormon town,โ€ where his neighbors and church leaders viewed โ€œdrinking a Coca-Cola as so close to drinking coffee that it made your worthiness … questionable.โ€

That view was magnified when the late LDS church President Gordon B. Hinckley offhandedly told โ€œ60 Minutesโ€ that Mormons avoid caffeine. Several earlier LDS leaders, including apostle Bruce R. McConkie, considered imbibing Coke as a violation of the โ€œspiritโ€ of the Word of Wisdom.

The official word from the top means that a Romney White House can be stocked with cold brew iced stubbies, Starbucks Mocha Frappuccinos, and gallons upon gallons of coffee ice cream. Espresso? No. Espresso affogato? Make Mitt’s a double scoop!

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