2023-10-07 09:20:25
Energy drink
Written by Rainer Ackermann
The Young Families Club (Ficsak) expressly welcomes the move to ban the sale of so-called energy drinks to young people under the age of 18.
“This is great news for all parents and health professionals! This not only protects the health of the youngest generation, but also sends a clear message to society about the importance of a healthy lifestyle,” Ficsak wrote in a press release distributed via the official news agency MTI. The sales restriction to adults could easily be implemented by using only tobacconists as a sales channel, similar to cigarettes. (Young people under the age of 18 are not allowed in tobacconists.) The Ficsak also reminds us of our own successful campaigns from the past: together with parents, we were able to ensure that the buffets in schools had to remove extremely sugary or salted products from their offerings.
The government politicians István Hollik (Fidesz) and Lőrinc Nacsa (KDNP) started the public discussion about the ban on the sale of energy drinks for children and young people with a video message these days. In it they pointed out that they themselves were affected by the problem as fathers of three children each. “We see the dangers that lurk when consuming these drinks every day and want to fulfill our duty as parents to protect our children,” explained Hollik. For years, paramedics have had to provide emergency medical care to children and young people in an average of one hundred cases per year after excessive consumption of these controversial drinks. A year ago, a 14-year-old died of cardiac arrest at school in Hatvan. Teachers report that many students fall asleep in the hours after 10 or 11 a.m. because the effects of the energy drinks wear off by then.
The MESZ trade association countered in an official statement that adolescents should not consume any drinks containing caffeine at all. In this sense, it would only be logical if the legislature applied strictness in the case of cola too. “Especially because our children today drink ten times as much cola as energy drinks!” However, the association itself admits that you have to drink a whole liter of cola to achieve the same caffeine content as a strong espresso – with energy drinks that is enough 250 ml for that.
#longer #suitable #minors #Budapest #newspaper