MEPs want to veto energy drink "alertness" claims
Energy drinks - Image by Dominicp
(BRUSSELS) - Sugary drinks and energy drinks containing caffeine should not display claims that they can help increase alertness or concentration, an EU Parliament committee said on Wednesday.
Adolescents form the largest group of energy drink consumers, the Parliament's Health committee said in a resolution, and this would encourage high consumption of sugar among them.
The MEPs were voting on a draft European Commission proposal which wants to list the benefits of caffeine, such as alertness, increased performance and endurance on the labels of energy and sugary drinks.
Young people and children are drinking a lot of these energy drinks, said Parliament's rapporteur Christel Schaldemose MEP. ""So it's not just the caffeine, it's also that energy drinks contain a lot of sugar too. And we don't think that these sorts of drinks should have any kind of health claims put on them" she added. "We're not going to say that adults should not drink coffee or energy drinks. We just don't want to [help companies] to earn a lot of money on a health claim that we think is not suited for young kids," she added.
In their resolution, MEPs point out that the Commission itself considers that claims that caffeine helps to increase alertness and concentration should not be used for foods targeting children and adolescents.
However, adolescents are the largest group of energy drink consumers, they say, pointing to studies showing that 68% of adolescents and 18% of children regularly consume energy drinks, while 1 in 3 eleven-year-olds are overweight or obese in Europe.
A 250ml can of energy drink can contain up to 27g of sugar and 80mg of caffeine, say MEPs, even though the World Health Organisation recommends that adults and children should get no more than 10% of their daily energy intake from free sugars, and that a further reduction to below 5% (about 25g per day) would provide additional health benefits.
Moreover, energy drinks have been linked to headaches, sleep problems and behavioural problems in children and adolescents who regularly consume them, MEPs add.
Health Committee members voted by show of hands to call upon Parliament as a whole to veto the draft European Commission proposal, in a vote to take place at the July session in Strasbourg
Further information, European Parliament