Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 December 2020
468. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Health if there are age limits in Ireland on the consumption of energy drinks which can contain concentrated amounts of caffeine or other stimulants; if not, if there are plans to introduce age limits for energy drinks for those under 16 years of age as is the case in other jurisdictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43031/20]
View answerThe current position with regard to energy drinks is that, since 2000, there has been a legal requirement under EU legislation for all ingredients as well as the quantity of certain ingredients to be displayed on the product label. Additionally, since December 2014 an EU regulation requires that beverages containing a proportion in excess of 150mg/l of caffeine are labelled with the statement “High caffeine content. Not recommended for children or pregnant or breast-feeding women” placed near the name of the product and followed by the caffeine content specified in mg per 100ml.The Department of Health's national Obesity Policy and Action Plan (OPAP), published in 2016 recommended that a code of practice for food and beverages promotion, marketing and sponsorship be developed and implemented. The Voluntary Codes of Practice for the Non-Broadcast Media Advertising and Marketing of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages, including Sponsorship and Retail Product Placement were launched in February 2018. The purpose of these Codes is to ensure that foods and drinks high in fat, especially saturated fat, sugar and salt are marketed and advertised in a responsible way, especially to young people. High energy drinks qualify as high sugar products under the criteria being used to define high sugar drinks. Therefore, their advertising, marketing, sponsorship and product placement is covered by these Codes. They are also liable to the Sugar-Sweetened Drinks Tax, which commenced on 1 May 2018.
