Response 741009236

Back to Response listing

Mandatory Measures

1. Should sales of energy drinks to young people under the age of 16 be banned?

Please select one item
Yes
No – the mandatory age limit should be 18
No – there should be no mandatory age restrictions
Unsure
Other (please specify)
Please describe any factors you have taken into consideration and provide any evidence you have to support a specific age restriction.
If the reason for the ban is due to biology (sleep, excessive weight gain etc) , then the age restriction of 18 covers a longer period of growth for younger people. People aged upto 18 can still be in education and so if the ban included everyone upto age 18, then the peer pressure or the pressure on 17/18 year olds to buy the drinks for younger friends would not be there, or be much less if everyone was banned.

Proposals for implementation and enforcement

2. If implemented, are there any places where energy drinks are currently sold, that should be exempt from mandatory age restrictions?

Please explain your answer and provide any thoughts on how this could work in practice. In particular, views are sought for energy drinks sales in vending machines and those made online.
I think the same measures that are taken with vending of alcohol or cigarettes should be established for energy drinks.

3. Please comment on our proposals for enforcing any requirements that are implemented.

Please include any practical issues that we should consider to ensure that the enforcement of any policy implementation is done fairly and is not overly burdensome.
no commtns

4. Please comment on our proposals for evaluating any policies that are implemented.

Would very much like to see the health and wellbeing assessment, particularly impact of restricted sales in school and school performance, as well as sleep and general food intake choices.

Impact assessments

7. What, if any, impact do you think applying mandatory age restrictions to sales of energy drinks would have on businesses?

Please include any anticipated differential impacts, positive and negative, on sellers, distributors and manufacturers of energy drinks.
There is a potential loss of revenue but, I suspect drinks manufacturers will come up with some alternative drink to grab the attention of young people and so, in the long run sellers will just stock what will sell and so revenue will not be lost in the longer term.

8. What, if any, impact do you think implementing mandatory age restrictions to sales of energy drinks will have on people based on any of the following characteristics?

Please consider potentially positive, negative and differential impacts, supported by evidence, and, if applicable, advise on any mitigating actions we should take.
Young people themselves may initially percieve this to be unfair, but if they sleep better, eat better and perform better in school then I think this is acceptable. Over time, I would expect it will be accepted just as the restricted sale of alcohol or tobacco is, even though many young people still get hold of those items.

Any other comments

9. Please outline any other comments you wish to make.

I think this ban will support parents in promoting better health. I have seen young parents give a baby fizzy caffeinated juice in a bottle. This is awful for teeth, for their sleep, for so many health issues but they did not understand how inappropriate it was.
If parents know that these drinks are banned to under 16s or 18s, they will get a clear message that energy drinks are not acceptable foodstuffs for younger people and then when they refuse to buy them for their children, they will have good reasons for their decisions.

About you

Are you responding as an individual or an organisation?

Please select one item
(Required)
Individual
Organisation