High energy drinks are dangerous and damaging says BSPD

16 January 2018
Volume 31 · Issue 6

A ban on the sale of high energy drinks to under-16s is being called for by the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry. Claire Stevens, president of BSPD, said the drinks were damaging to dental health and should not have a place in the diet of children and young people.

“They are doubly bad for teeth,” she said,” because these drinks have high levels of sugar and they are acidic. This means they can cause both dental decay and erosion, or acid-wear, of teeth.”

Claire said she was delighted to learn that Waitrose had decided to refuse to sell the drinks to young people aged 16 or under from March 5th. “The step taken by Waitrose is a bold and responsible one,” said Claire, “but we would like all retailers to come on board and ideally to have legislation introduced to prevent all shopkeepers selling these drinks to under-16s.”

Waitrose took the decision to ban sales to under-16s early in the New Year following a call from the campaigning group Action on Sugar. Researchers from Action on Sugar analysed the levels of sugar, caffeine and carbohydrate in energy drinks and said they were completely inappropriate for children. Their findings were published in BMJ Open in December.

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