ASDA and Aldi to ban the sale of energy drinks to under-16s

From March under-16s will be banned from buying high-caffeine energy drinks from Asda and Aldi.

The supermarkets now join Waitrose in the regulation of energy drinks.

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The move comes after pressure from campaigners amid growing health concerns on the impact of caffeine and sugar on children.

From March customers will be required to show I.D to buy any drink which has more than 150mg of caffeine per litre.

Earlier this month Waitrose announced that it would be the first supermarket to ban the sale of energy drinks to under 16s from 5 March.

Asda will now also introduce its new regulation from 5 March and Aldi from 1 March.

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Although The 2015 European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Opinion states that energy drinks are safe, The British Soft Drinks Association has said that they should not be marketed to under-16s.

Asda's chief customer officer, Andrew Murray, said: "We take our responsibilities as a retailer seriously and work hard to ensure we get the balance right between offering choice and doing the right thing.

"We have listened to our customers and want to take a leading position in this area to support parents and teachers in limiting young peoples' access to high caffeine drinks."

Oliver King, managing director of corporate responsibility at Aldi, said: "We are introducing this age restriction in response to growing concern about the consumption of energy drinks among young people."

As of April 2018 a sugar tax will also come into force affecting all sugar sweetened drinks.