Several years ago, in the United Kingdom, retailers came together to ban the sales of energy drinks to anyone under the age of 16. This wasn’t something enforced everywhere, although certainly in major outlets, including supermarket giants like Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, and Waitrose. There was actually a caffeine limit they went by, with nothing over 75mg in a 500ml to be sold to individuals unless they were over 16.
The government in the United Kingdom is now moving to make that restriction an all-out law. The legislation that’ll ban the sale of energy drinks to individuals under 16 years of age is currently going through a 12-week consultation period to finalize enforcement and product details. After that, the regulations will be rolled out nationwide, with retailers to be fined up to £2,500 (3378 USD) for violations.
The caffeine limit that various supermarkets have in the United Kingdom have been enforcing is what the government is looking to go off, which will cover anything with more than 150mg of caffeine per liter. That works out to 75mg in a standard 500ml can and 32.5mg in 250ml. That is practically every energy drink, but still allows the likes of Coca Cola to be sold to under 16s with its 34mg of caffeine in a 330ml can.
