British Government Proposes to Ban Sale of Energy Drinks to Teenagers

The sale of energy drinks may be banned in England to anybody under 18, amid fears the beverages are damaging children’s health, the British prime minister has announced.

Energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine and, in the case of those that are of the non-diet variety, have substantial amounts of sugar. Studies have linked the consumption of the drinks to obesity, headaches, sleeping problems, irritation, and tiredness.

A public consultation process is underway; British authorities are asking the public to weigh in on what age the ban should apply to, and suggest under 16, or under 18 as options..

Besides recommending an age limit, the consultation process also intends to inform policymakers on what types of products should be restricted, whether measures other than a prohibition would be better, or if more constraints should be stacked on top of the ban.

The drink ban initiative comes on the heels of the June 2018 publication (pdf) of the latest chapter of the government’s Childhood Obesity Plan, which commits to halve childhood obesity by 2030.

Prime Minister Theresa May has called childhood obesity “one of the greatest health challenges this country faces,” and has vowed to take “significant action to reduce the amounts of sugar consumed by young people and to help families make healthier choices.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a campaign event at Thornhill Cricket and Bowling Club in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, UK, on June 3, 2017. Hannah McKay/AFP/Getty Images

Government Overreach?

Critics of the proposal say it’s a nanny state tactic, and an illogically formulated one at that.

“It’s a very heavy-handed measure,” said Christopher Snowden, head of Lifestyle Economics at the free-market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs.

He said that “the government doesn’t seem to be clear whether they’re waging a war on sugar or caffeine. If it’s the caffeine, they should ban the sale of coffee to kids, and if it’s sugar, why not propose to ban all sugary products for kids?”

Snowden suggested that instead of coming up with properly-targeted legislation, the government was jumping on the bandwagon of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who has in the past spearheaded efforts to fight diet-related disease in children.

Celebrity chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver has called for a ban on the sale of energy drinks to the under-16s. Here Oliver attends a session on the second day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 18, 2017. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

“The reality is that we have a well-known celebrity chef in the UK,” Snowden said, referring to Jamie Oliver, “who started campaigning to ban energy drinks to kids,” before adding half-jokingly “and the government always does what he says.”

“We have to do this,” said Oliver, according to an Epoch Times report on his campaign to end energy drink sales to the under-16s, “because these drinks are turning our kids into addicts. Their use is, to my mind, akin to drugs.”

British youngsters are among the highest consumers of energy drinks in Europe, research has previously suggested.

Conflict Between Children’s Welfare and Profit?

Public Health Minister Steve Brine echoed these findings and pointed to claims that consumption of energy drinks by kids alters their behavior for the worse.

”Our children already consume 50% more of these drinks than our European counterparts, and teachers have made worrying links between energy drinks and poor behaviour in the classroom.”

Teachers have said that kids “high” on caffeine are disruptive to their own learning and that of their classmates, though claims of the behavior-altering effects of energy drinks on kids have not been tested.

“The concern I guess is that we don’t know the effects on caffeine in children, we can’t study that,” said dietician and university lecturer Ursula Philpot. “So we’re concerned that children are having huge doses of caffeine and huge doses of sugar and actually it’s perfectly legal.”

Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, casts efforts to ban energy drinks as a conflict between children’s interests and those of commercial profit.

“Schools do all they can to provide an environment conducive to learning, but they can’t control what’s on sale beyond the school gates. If the Government is serious about protecting children, it needs to put their interests before the profits of the energy drinks industry and ban the sale of these harmful products to under 16s,” he said, the Independent reported.

Snowden dismissed an age limit of 18 as excessive, but conceded that a younger age might be reasonable.

“If there had to be an age limit, then 14, or at the absolute most 16. We accept in the UK that they can join the army or start learning to drive at 16, so I think we can trust them with a can of Red Bull, which has about as much caffeine as a shot or so of espresso.”

Many shops in the UK already have their own voluntary bans in place for under-16s.

The ban would apply to drinks containing 150mg of caffeine or more per litre.

The consultation runs until November.