Tesco has announced plans to stop selling energy drinks to under-16s.
The supermarket chain said it would ‘introduce measures’ to prevent the sale of energy drinks to children in the UK from March.
It follows similar moves by other supermarkets, with Waitrose announcing earlier this month that customers buying drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre would be asked to prove they are over 16 from March 5.
Tesco has announced that it will join other UK supermarkets and stop selling energy drinks to under-16s from March
A Tesco spokesman said: ‘Implementing new measures on energy drinks is another opportunity to help our customers adopt healthy habits.’
Last month, campaign group Action on Sugar found that typical serving sizes of energy drinks were larger than other sugar-sweetened drinks at an ‘excessive’ 500ml.
British youngsters are among the highest consumers of such drinks in Europe, figures have shown.
The supermarket chain is joining the likes of Waitrose, Morrisons, Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Lidl and Tesco with the energy drink ban
Kawther Hashem, of Action on Sugar, said: ‘We are delighted to see that Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Lidl – and now Tesco – have followed Waitrose’s lead with its ban and hope other retailers will comply.
‘Energy drinks are a contributor to sugar intake which is linked to the development of obesity and various types of cancer, as well as type 2 diabetes, and is rotting our children’s teeth.’
Kawther Hashem, nutritionist at AoS at Queen Mary University of London, said: ‘We are delighted to see that Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Lidl – and now Tesco – have followed Waitrose’s lead with its ban on energy drinks and hope other retailers will comply.
‘Energy drinks are a contributor to sugar intake which is linked to the development of obesity and various types of cancer, as well as type 2 diabetes, and is rotting our children’s teeth.
‘Our study published last month in the BMJ Open revealed that sugar, calorie and caffeine content in energy drinks remain far too high. Just one can of Rockstar Punched (500ml) contains 78g sugar – that’s nearly 20 teaspoons!
‘Retailers must be held accountable and reminded to reconsider their ethical responsibility.’