Welsh bids to ban under-16s buying tea and coffee as part of energy drinks clampdown

The sale of tea and coffee to under-16s in Wales could be banned under proposals introduced by the developed Labor government.

A consultation on a proposal to end the sale of energy drinks to children also asks whether ‘the plan should be widened to consider drinks typically high in caffeine such as tea and coffee’.

The Welsh government is looking to ban energy drinks as part of its healthy eating strategy. However, it acknowledges that there are difficulties in demonstrating the relationship between such products and poor health outcomes.

UK government Considered banning the sale of energy drinks to under-16s in England in 2018 and announced it would take measures a year later, but they have not yet been implemented. From that consultation it became clear that there would be a discount on tea and coffee.

The Welsh advisory states that ‘the energy drink has, on average, the same level of caffeine as a double shot of espresso’. Under current regulations, all drinks containing more than 150 milligrams of caffeine, except tea and coffee, must carry a warning.

More than one in five UK retailers have put in place voluntary restrictions on energy drinks for under-16s. Wales’ deputy minister for mental health, Lynn Neagle, said the consultation sought ideas on how to ‘support the nation to get healthier’.