Ending the sale of energy drinks to children and young people: consultation

Closed 4 Feb 2020

Opened 29 Oct 2019

Contact

Diet and Healthy Weight Team

0300 244 8092

DietPolicy@gov.scot

Feedback updated 30 May 2023

We asked

Following a commitment in our Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan, we consulted on Ending the sale of energy drinks to children and young people.

The aim of the consultation was to inform consideration of whether there is sufficient cause and evidence to support mandatory measures to end the sale of energy drinks to children and young people and, if so, what those measures should be.

The consultation ran from 29 October 2019 to 4 February 2020.

You said

The consultation received 119 responses - 81 from individuals and 38 from organisations or groups.

Overall, there was support for the proposals but views tended to diverge by respondent type. Individuals and non-industry respondents were generally supportive of a mandatory approach whilst industry respondents were more likely to be opposed.

Respondents who were supportive of the proposals generally cited a range of health-related concerns to justify the proposed preventative action. Those opposed to a mandatory approach queried the evidence base for the proposals.

The Scottish Government published an independent analysis report of the responses to the consultation on 30 May 2023.

We did

The Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health announced on 30 May that the Scottish Government will not seek to pursue mandatory measures to restrict the sale of energy drinks to children and young people at this time. This decision follows careful consideration of the consultation responses and the current evidence base.

Additional information gathering and analysis, including in relation to energy drink consumption, will be considered to support further consideration of mandatory measures in the future.

The Scottish Government published an Energy Drinks Evidence Brief on 30 May 2023.

The Scottish Government would like to thank everyone who took the time to provide a written response to the consultation exercise and who engaged with officials.

Published responses

View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.

Overview

We are seeking views on whether there is a need to take mandatory action to ban the sale of energy drinks to children and young people.  This is to help reduce the overconsumption of these drinks and the health harms associated with that.

Why your views matter

We consult because we want better policy – and better outcomes as a result.

As part of our Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan, published in July 2018, we committed to consulting on restrictions to end the sale of energy drinks to children and young people.

We are seeking views on:

  1. whether mandatory action is needed to protect the health of young people
  2. whether an age restriction of 16 is the most appropriate course of action
  3. whether there should be an exemptions if a policy was implemented
  4. how an age restriction policy could best be enforced and monitored
  5. the impacts of implementing such a policy.

This will help us assess whether the proposed measures are proportionate and would deliver the beneficial outcomes intended.

Read the consultation paper

Interests

  • Health and Social Care