Monday, 19 November 2018

'Energy Drinks' and Age of Consent?

I do wish they would stop calling them 'energy drinks' as you might well, using similar criteria, also call sugar cubes 'energy food'. Yes, the drinks contain sugar and glucose (which are actually likely to lower blood sugar levels in the short term by an insulin-mediated process termed 'reactive hypoglycaemia') but many also have high doses of caffeine. There is now a move to limit the age, at which they can be consumed, to 18 rather than 16 (https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/nov/19/set-age-ban-on-sale-of-energy-drinks-at-18-government-told). This is primarily an attempt to stop these drinks producing unruly behavioural changes in school settings. I personally think that more effort ought to be directed to convincing young (and older?) folk that these concoctions are of little benefit rather than attempting to cut off the supply by making the age of legal consumption higher.

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