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

The sale of tea and low to under-16s may very well be banned in Wales below proposals put ahead by the devolved Labour authorities.

A session on the proposal to finish gross sales of vitality drinks to kids additionally asks whether or not the plan ‘should be widened to consider other drinks typically high in caffeine, such as tea and coffee’.

The Welsh authorities is trying to ban vitality drinks as a part of its wholesome consuming technique. Nevertheless, it admits there are difficulties demonstrating hyperlinks between such merchandise and poor well being outcomes.

The UK authorities consulted on an vitality drinks gross sales ban for under-16s in England in 2018 and introduced it will enact measures the yr after, however they’ve but to be applied. That session made it clear that tea and low would stay exempt.

The Welsh session states ‘energy drinks contain, on average, similar levels of caffeine to a double shot of espresso’. Underneath present guidelines all drinks besides tea and low which comprise greater than 150mg of caffeine should carry a warning.

A couple of in 5 UK retailers have imposed voluntary restrictions on vitality drinks for under-16s. Wales’ deputy minister for psychological well being, Lynne Neagle, stated the session sought concepts on find out how to ‘support the nation to be healthier’.