The Australian Beverages Council has described a call by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver for a global ban on the sale of energy drinks to under 16-year olds as “unnecessary and totally misinformed”.
Oliver recently told the UK media that many school kids consume energy drinks morning, noon and night in Britain, with the problem reaching epidemic proportions.
According to the Australian Beverages Council, which represents the local energy drinks industry, the latest government data shows the average Australian 14 to 16-year-old gets just 3.8 per cent of their daily dietary caffeine from energy drinks.
This compares with 32 per cent from coffee, 5.2 per cent from flavoured milk and 4.5 per cent from confectionery and muesli bars.
Australian Beverages Council CEO Geoff Parker said the recently released ABS Australian Health Survey found that the mean intake of energy drinks across all 14-18-year olds was just 6.3mL, representing less than 0.4 per cent of total intake of all non-alcoholic, non-dairy beverages.
“In this age group, just 1.7 per cent of the entire population consumed energy drinks. Mr Oliver’s moral scaremongering is just not supported by the facts,” he said.
Parker also said that energy drinks are very tightly regulated in Australia. Energy Drinks are not available in primary or secondary schools, and they must be clearly labelled that they are not suitable for children noted that by law in Australia.
“In addition to a maximum cap on the caffeine content that is equivalent to an instant cup of coffee for a 250mL can (80mg), these regulations make our energy drink regulations the toughest in the world,” Parker said.
“If caffeine is this celebrity chef’s main concern, then we expect Mr Oliver to also be calling for age restrictions on coffee, tea, and even the chocolate in his own decadent desserts.”
