It has been reported that the up-market supermarket, Waitrose, is to stop selling high caffeine 'energy drinks' to children under 16 (www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/04/waitrose-ban-sales-high-caffeine-energy-drinks-children-16/). This is apparently a response to the potential effects of these drinks on obesity and behavioural change. I will reiterate my standard moan that they should not really be labelled 'energy drinks' (in spite of their glucose content) as their ingestion tends to produce reactive hypoglycaemia (a lowering of blood sugar by insulin release, with reduced energy and increased irritability in many subjects). There have been the standard responses by people who think that supermarkets should not 'dictate' what we buy (although 16 year-olds cannot legally buy alcohol in stores). The questions might arise of how 16 year-olds demonstrate their age to people on the check out and how you can stop people buying the drinks for younger children. I personally feel that this is a good move that hopefully might be taken up (and extended) by other chains.
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