00:00Loud, colourful, sweet and easily available.
00:04Too easy, according to doctors, parents and teachers,
00:08concerned about the impact high caffeine energy drinks are having on our children's health.
00:13Now, the government plans to ban the sale of these drinks to under-16s.
00:18Retailers are used to making sure that a whole range of products are sold on an age-appropriate basis,
00:25whether that's things like alcohol and cigarettes,
00:28and would be applying the same principle to high caffeine energy drinks.
00:33And that's because we know that kids who are back to school today,
00:38picking up one of these cans in the shop, will be necking the equivalent of four cans of Coke.
00:42And it impacts on their behaviour and concentration in the classroom,
00:45which is why a majority of teachers want us to act.
00:47It impacts on their sleep, their health and their wellbeing at home,
00:50which is why the overwhelming majority of parents want to act.
00:53It was in our manifesto, so it's a case of promise made, promise kept.
00:57And doing it with retailers rather than two retailers.
01:00Around 100,000 children are thought to consume at least one high caffeine energy drink every day.
01:06And many of these drinks are not just high in caffeine, but high in sugar too,
01:11presenting a challenge to tackling childhood obesity.
01:14Health experts say the impact on children is severe.
01:17These are marketed to improve concentration, to lift energy levels,
01:23but specifically in children, they have developing brains,
01:28they also have smaller bodies than adults,
01:31and so they can be more sensitive to these effects.
01:33And that can lead to poor concentration, increased anxiety, difficulty sleeping,
01:38as well as causing abnormal heart rhythms or potentially worsening heart disease
01:44in people who were born with problems with it.
01:48Lower caffeine soft drinks, such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, are not affected,
01:53and neither are tea and coffee.
01:55However, high caffeine energy drinks, such as Red Bull, Monster, Relentless and Prime,
01:59would all breach the limit.
02:02Lee Marshall suffered a heart attack eight years ago,
02:04following excessive energy drink consumption.
02:07He has tried to educate other adults and children about the health risks
02:10after seeing how easy it was for his young daughter to obtain one.
02:14She got into the car with a big tin of Monster.
02:19I asked her where she got it from.
02:20She said, oh, I get it from the shop there, Dad, we all buy them.
02:24Then I spoke to the school.
02:26The school couldn't do anything.
02:29There was a wear of stuff going on.
02:32I then spoke to a police officer.
02:34There was a maze that there was no regulations or rules around the energy drinks.
02:42Sports people at the council, there was not much they could do with regards
02:46putting restrictions in shops.
02:50Dee Sedani is a shopkeeper in Derbyshire.
02:53He supports the sale ban for under-16s, but questions how it will be enforced.
02:57What ID is valid.
02:59There's no ID scheme for 16-year-olds.
03:02I think in the initial bit, there's going to be the reaction of what's going on.
03:06We're going to get a big kickback there.
03:08And I think the third thing is, I think it might increase theft because it becomes a naughty item.
03:13So I think kids are going to try and do that.
03:15And then I think, who's going to police it?
03:17Trading standards, we don't see them.
03:18There's not enough enforcement there to keep the bad rogue traders offline.
03:23Major supermarkets have already stopped sales of the drinks to youngsters.
03:28The government has launched a 12-week consultation on the issue
03:31and will try and enforce the ban across all retailers.
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