To be pissed off with local shop selling energy drinks with taurine to school kids and to write to MP

[FunBagFreddie]

DS is at secondary school and has lunch money etc, and recently I have found empty cans of energy drinks in his bag. These drinks are not just caffeine, they contain taurine which has been banned in some countries - France, Norway, Denmark. Effects of long term use can include paranoia, heart problems and it can disrupt neurotransmitters. I really don?t think that many parents are aware of just how unhealthy these drinks potentially are. The caffeine content is way too high for youngsters too imo.

The cans specifically state that it should not be sold to children, yet shops are selling it to kids in their school uniform. You see them all drinking it round here. I also wonder whether drinking it regularly for the buzz could lead to an increased likelihood to experiment with amphetamines further down the line. I'm not some puritan, but amphetamines are nasty drugs. Nobody thinks it's ok to sell tobacco and alcohol to minors, so why the hell is this crap being sold to them?

AIBU to write to my local MP about this problem?

Sash, it's the amount of taurine that's the problem. France tried to ban redbull but couldn't.

One of the ingredients that have been identified as needing further attention is taurine, an amino-acid commonly found in caffeine and sugar-laden drinks that jump-starts the metabolism. It is normally manufactured in the human body, and plays an important role in a good balanced diet. It is also found in, for example, meat and dairy products. However, some studies have indicated that synthetic taurine?the kind that is found in energy drinks?is linked to a range of illnesses, including high blood pressure, strokes, heart seizures and heart disease. Each 8 oz can of Red Bull contains 1,000 mg of taurine, and a can of Monster of the same size contains roughly same amount.

Even if parents don't allow them, if their DC's are out and about and have money on them, you can't do much about it.

I got that from www.parliament.uk/

Even if parents don't allow them, if their DC's are out and about and have money on them, you can't do much about it.

so you can't do anything, but the shop should?
That's my point. Unless the shop is acting illegally writing to your mp about the shop won't help. Writing to your mp about concern that it is allowed to be sold may help.

which brand did your son buy.

I believe they are very unhealthy especially for young children/adults.

Yanbu.

mutny. I obviously didn't make myself clear. The purpose of writing to my MP is to express my concerns about the fact that these drinks can be legally sold to minors. I want to ask him to consider the potential dangers of these drinks, and raise the question in parliament. That is meant to be part of his job isn't it?

He'll probably do fuck all about it, but at least I've donr something.

Selling of These drinks make me really mad, there is no reason for children to have them, in my cafe I refuse to have them for sale. One evening at about 8ish a boy came and asked for a red bull I said we didn't sell them, so he went and got his dad who proceeded to get angry as his son needed a red bull now!! So instead got him an extra strong coffee!! I just don't understand why a 10 year old boy would need so much caffeine at 8 in the evening!!
Just made me not want to sell them even more

I would support the banning of energy drinks for under 16's.

I read you title to be that you wanted to complain about the local shop.
In fact you are complaining about all shops selling it?

so he went and got his dad who proceeded to get angry as his son needed a red bull now!!

What a complete bell-end!

I'm glad you don't sell that crap to children Goldensunnydays81. Maybe you could email your MP too.

YANBU

I don't think energy drinks should be sold to children at all!

I work nights and I would never have an energy drink. The whole idea revolts me. All that caffeine and sugar, so bad for you......

I read you title to be that you wanted to complain about the local shop.
In fact you are complaining about all shops selling it?

Yes mutny that's what I was getting at. It all started when I found out DS had been buying this from the local shop.

Marking place.

MSG is derived from glutamic acid which occurs naturally, but MSG itself is not natural. I'm not telling anyone to not eat it though, and it's just my personal choice to cut this additive out of my diet. This AIBU is not about MSG though. If anyone wants to eat it, that's up to them and I'm not going to be all judgey about it.

I am pretty pissed off about energy drinks being sold to kids though.

I bought a bottle of Grenadine in Sainsbury's yesterday.

(It's a non-alchoholic blackcurrant syrup traditionally used to mix with cocktails. Sorry for spelling out the obvious if you already knew this!)

The young girl on the till had to wait for a member of staff to OK it to ring through as she was under age and couldn't sell it to me, even though I pointed out there was no alcohol in it. On the till receipt next to the product it said 'think, Under 21'.

My point is, a syrup such as grenadine has obviously been classed as alcohol by the supermarket because of its association with spirits. (It is sold in the liquor aisle).

Energy drinks I guess are classed as soft drinks and sold with the rest of the cokes and sprites etc.

Perhaps they need to be re-classified - eg be sold with the alcohol and have a check like this put on them?

in that case, op, yanbu to contact your mp.

However I do think your son needs to take some responsibility as well.

Sorry you lost me when you suggested an energy drink would be a gateway drug for speed.

WTAF.

Firstly teens act hyper full stop. Energy drinks may have some effect, but a lot of it will be placebo. They expect feel wired so they do.

Honestly, if you ban selling them to kids you will just make them more desirable. It's easy to buy stupidly high caffeine shots on the web.

What next, no tea, coffee or cola because it contains caffeine.

I'm sorry, but I think there are enough regulations with out any more.

If any of the ingredients are genuinely harmful that is a matter for the appropriate organisations to look into.

We have explained to DS that these drinks are very unhealthy. I don't think 13 year olds care about these things though. You also see school kids buying loads of sweets and junk food in shops, I'm sure he would live off chocolate and mini cheddars if he was allowed to.

Paiviaso It's just my opinion.

YANBU they should be banned here too!

TheJoyfulPuddlejumper I stopped eating MSG because I was getting lots of migraines and headaches. Somebody suggested MSG as being the cause and it seemed to make sense. I've cut it out and hardly have any migraines now. It might be a placebo effect, but I don't really care because I have less migraines now!