Health Secretary: High caffeine energy drinks same as ‘necking four cans of Coke’

The Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has vowed to protect children’s health by tackling high-caffeine energy drinks, likening a single can to “necking four cans of Coke”.

Mr Streeting revealed that a significant majority, eight out of 10 parents, support a ban on the sale of these potent beverages to children.

Teachers are also voicing concerns, as he told BBC Breakfast on Wednesday, because they “see the impact of these drinks on children’s concentration, their learning, their behaviour”.

In response, the government has initiated a 12-week consultation period on the issue, with plans to implement changes as swiftly as possible.

Meanwhile, doctors “have warned about the long term impact of these high caffeine energy drinks, many of them full of sugar – just one can of this stuff is the equivalent of necking four cans of Coke,” he said.

“You can see the impact on the health, the concentration, the learning, and that is why we are acting.

“And… to make sure that this works not just in principle but in practice, we’re doing a short, sharp, 12-week consultation with businesses, learning from those retailers that are already doing it about how it’s working in practice, so that we can expand to all retailers doing this with them, rather than to them…

“We promised to do this by the end of this Parliament, but in practice, this will come in a lot sooner.”

Asked whether parents should be able to make their own decisions about what their children consume, Mr Streeting said: “I think that this issue of personal choice, personal responsibility, is instinctively where we would come from in terms of adults, but when it comes to children’s health and children’s wellbeing, we take a different approach.

“And I think that one of the things that I’ve been struck by is that we’ve got parents who are urging us to act to help them, because to be fair to mums and dads who I think are concerned about health and nutrition of their kids, well that’s all very well when mums and dads have got eyes on their kids, but when they are going off to school today, they’re popping into the newsagent on the way to school and buying one of these drinks, and then popping in again at lunchtime, buying another one of these drinks, and then getting one on the way home.

“That is a lot of caffeine, that is a lot of sugar, and parents wouldn’t necessarily know.”

He said “my constituency office is right near one of my local secondary schools”, adding: “I’ve got a shop just a few doors down, and I see it, I’ve got I’ve got eyes and ears myself.

“Whether it’s the cloud of vapour I see as the kids are on their way home from school vaping, or whether it’s them walking down the street with a big can of Monster or Prime or one of the other energy drinks, I see it with my own eyes, and I understand why parents are concerned, why teachers are concerned…”

Under the new plans, it will be illegal to sell energy drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre to anyone under 16 across all retailers, including online, in shops, restaurants, cafes and vending machines.

Lower-caffeine soft drinks – such as Coca‑Cola, Coca‑Cola Zero, Diet Coke and Pepsi – are not affected, and neither are tea and coffee.

However, high-caffeine energy drinks such as Red Bull, Monster, Relentless and Prime would all breach the limit.

Major supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Morrisons and Asda have already stopped sales of the drinks to youngsters, but the Department of Health said research suggests some smaller convenience stores are still selling them to children.

According to ministers, a ban could prevent obesity in up to 40,000 children and will help prevent issues such as disrupted sleep, increased anxiety and lack of concentration, as well as poorer school results.

Drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre already carry warning labels stating they are not recommended for children.

Gavin Partington, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association, said firms do not market or promote the drinks to under-16s.

He added: “Our members have led the way in self-regulation through our long-standing energy drinks code of practice.

“Our members do not market or promote the sale of energy drinks to under-16s and label all high-caffeine beverages as ‘not recommended for children’, in line with and in the spirit of this code.

“As with all Government policy, it’s essential that any forthcoming regulation is based on a rigorous assessment of the evidence that’s available.”

Professor Steve Turner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “Paediatricians are very clear that children or teenagers do not need energy drinks.

“Young people get their energy from sleep, a healthy balanced diet, regular exercise and meaningful connection with family and friends.

“There’s no evidence that caffeine or other stimulants in these products offer any nutritional or developmental benefit – in fact, growing research points to serious risks for behaviour and mental health.”

James Lowman, chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores, said: “The majority of convenience stores already have a voluntary age restriction in place on energy drinks, and will welcome the clarity of regulation on this issue.”

Elsewhere, Mr Streeting said he was having “ongoing” conversations with British Medical Association (BMA), which staged NHS strikes over the summer.

He said the five days of strike action “wasn’t as bad as it might have been because of the hard work of frontline staff who came to work, and the work of NHS leaders to minimise the impact, but there was disruption, and that’s been my problem with this throughout”.

He added: “We’ve spent recent weeks in talks with the BMA. Those talks are ongoing. Probably best I don’t provide a running commentary on that, because we want to try and talk in person rather than negotiate and talk via the airwaves, but those talks are ongoing, and I think that is a good thing.”