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?

[Tuttutitlookslikerain]

A study by the European Food Safety Authority found no adverse affects for up to 1,000mg of taurine per kilogram of body weight per day. From Wikipedia.

Both my older teens have the occasional Red Bull, the did when they were 13 too, they are never bouncing about and hyper after!

[FunBagFreddie]

There's something called 'Chinese food syndrome'. It's thought to be caused by the large amounts of MSG that some Chinese restaurants use. There are all sorts of crank theories about MSG on the internet, but I do think it can cause headaches, migraines and other unpleasant symptoms.

[sillymillyb]

I'm on my crappy replacement phone so this may not flow right, but I used to be an area manager selling a very high profile energy drink. I would explicitly say to shops, this is not to be sold to under 14's (company policy) and have on more occassions than I can count physically taken it off children I believed to be under that age.

From a company point of you, it is not the image we wanted to promote, from a health point of view though..... Well put it this way NONE of the sales reps I knew would drink this, unless they really needed to. I have been at events where people have been hospitalised through heart palpatations, it causes upset stomachs and shakes.

Caffeene wise there is equivalent to a strong coffee (32mg) but I wouldn't give a 10 year old a coffee either.

Anyway. This long winded response is to say yanbu, however I'm not sure whether change is on the horizon as shop keepers are notoriously unscruplious and just want their profit margin. I

[complexnumber]

A review published in 2008 found no documented reports of negative or positive health effects associated with the amount of taurine used in energy drinks, concluding that "The amounts of guarana, taurine, and ginseng found in popular energy drinks are far below the amounts expected to deliver either therapeutic benefits or adverse events"

From Wiki, it refers to an article "Safety issues associated with commercially available energy drinks". Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

I know absolutely nothing about this issue, I'm just posting this to add information to the debate

[MaryZed]

I get horrible headaches from Chinese takeaways, except (interestingly) from the one we are currently using which doesn't add MSG to it's products, so I do think MSG can adversely affect some people.

I also think that some children are affected more than others by additives, whether they be simply high sugar drinks like Coke or "energy" drinks. My younger son has banned himself from using energy drinks, because he is aware that they make him act do-lally, as well as giving him horrible headaches and a sort of "come-down".

In my opinion no child should need energy drinks, or caffeine. The vast majority of children have enough energy, and if they are lacking in energy for school it must be due to an inadequate diet or lack of sleep, or an underlying illness. No child should need a shot of "energy".

I would support a ban.

[MamaBear17]

I am a head of year and there is a link between kids who consume these drinks and poor concentration and behaviour. I once had to send a pupil home because he had drank four of these drinks in the space of an hour and was literally shaking. Report the shop, YANBU.

[dysfunctionalme]

I would encourage you to push ahead with your protest, and bloody good luck with it. The amount of sugar alone is enough to do damage, nevermind all the synthesised crap.

[FunBagFreddie]

I banned DS from coke,pepsi and other caffeinated beverages for years, as they sent him loopy. Even now I can tell if he has been on the caffeine!

[digerd]

With most things, people are all different in their reactions to what they ingest. I tried an energy drink during the 2 heatwaves we had this summer, as I am older and had no energy at all. But although it felt refreshing, I certainly was not buzzing or jumping off walls. I normally drink tea and not coffee, but years ago, I had visitors who wanted a coffee at 8pm, so I had one too, of course. I couldn't sleep when I went to bed 3 hours later. So never did that again. With children, any signs of unusual hyperactivity afterwards should be a real matter of concern.

[complexnumber]

However, caffeine and sugar are present (in energy drinks) in amounts known to cause a variety of adverse health effects.

This is the second part of the conclusion from the Journal I quoted 20 mins ago, Wiki didn't include that bit.

So, nothing we didn't already know here.

[Tuttutitlookslikerain]

MamaBear, I can honestly say to you that my DSes are almost 18 and almost 16, they are used as examples of how to behave by their school. DS1 is in Yr13, in all the time he has been at school he has never had a detention, never been in trouble, never had an incident sheet, never been sent to the head of year, deputy head or head teacher and never been in isolation. He finished Yr11 with all As and As in his GCSEs. DS2 in Yr 11 has never been in trouble either and has got some As and As in the GCSEs he has already sat.

You would never know if my children had just had an energy drink when they pitched up for your lesson because they would sit still, concentrate and do as they were told, as per usual!

[PedanticPanda]

the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

According to the report,

?these drinks have been reported in association with serious adverse effects, especially in children, adolescents, and young adults with seizures, diabetes, cardiac abnormalities, or mood and behavioural disorders or those who take certain medications.?

The report concludes:

?Energy drinks have no therapeutic benefit, and many ingredients are understudied and not regulated. The known and unknown pharmacology of agents included in such drinks, combined with reports of toxicity, raises concern for potentially serious adverse effects in association with energy-drink use.?

Just posting more information to the debate, not from wikipedia...

[GoSakuramachi]

Chinese food syndrome is a myth, it doesn't exist. If it did, half of Asia would have a headache.

[seeker]

Yet another excuse for kids not to take responsibility for their behaviour.

And another excuse for parents not to take responsibility for their children's behaviour either.

[FunBagFreddie]

GoSakuramachi , I've had it from crisps and other processed foods too.

[GoSakuramachi]

You haven't, you just think you have. There could be a common ingredient that causes a problem, but its not MSG.

[NellyJob]

the shop near my kids school won't sell those drinks to anyone in school uniform, it's defintely worth approaching the head and ask him/her to liaise with the shops.
I honestly don't see what good a letter to your MP would do.

[FunBagFreddie]

seeker, so what exactly do you think the parents of young teens should do? Hover around them 24/7 to make sure they don't buy them? I used to smoke the odd fag and occasionally drink at that age, my parents certainly didn't allow it, but me and my friends still found a way!

[FunBagFreddie]

GoSakuramachi, I'm just not comfortable with eating MSG these days, or many other additives. I'm also very picky about cosmetics and cleaning products.

[Tuttutitlookslikerain]

FunBagFreddie Why don't you ban him from buying them? Then if you find out he has been buying and drinking them, punish him for it? That is what parenting is!

[PedanticPanda]

I've worked in a few different shops and was always told it was a sackable offence to sell energy drinks to children/young teens.

[NellyJob]

seeker that is unrealistic - I suppose your teenagers are supervised at all times? and never buy a drink without your express permission?

[FreddieMercurysEnormusPumpkin]

just contact the shop and ask that they not sell the drinks to U16s. You could contact the school and ask them to intervene, or you could arrange to gather signatures of parents on a petition and send it to the shop. How are the children able to afford red bull and the like? They're very expensive.

[FunBagFreddie]

Tuttutitlookslikerain That's fair enough, but how do I know he's bought them if I don't see the empty can? He has been told not to buy them, but I suspect that he probably still does. Stopping pocket money and coming down heavy over him drinking energy drinks when I have no concrete proof seems over the top to be frank.

If we went by your logic we would legalise the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors, because their parents should be making sure they don't buy them. Do you think this is a good idea?

[Trills]

I was going to be supportive of the idea that energy drinks should be restricted to only over 16s.

There would have to be a law though, you can't expect people in shops to decide to not sell something to your teenager just because you don't like it.

But now you've started mentioning things like aspartame and MSG I am less inclined to believe your assertion that taurine is harmful.