Energy drink age restriction: Tauranga dairies may follow Countdown's lead

Some Tauranga dairies are considering following Countdown's lead by introducing an age-restriction on energy drinks.

The supermarket chain's move to introduce a 16+ restriction on sales from September 1 has pleased principals but disappointed the New Zealand Beverage Council.

Otumoetai College principal Russell Gordon said the restriction put the health and wellbeing of the community before profit.

He believed the quantities of caffeine and sugar found in energy drinks could be harmful to young drinkers.

He had not noticed a lot of energy drinks at his school. Students with them - most often Year 10 and 11s - stood out.

To see a real change, convenience stores would need to follow Countdown's example.

READ MORE: Countdown supermarket introduces age requirement for buying energy drinks

"I would appreciate other suppliers following them . . . they're putting people ahead of profit and I applaud that," he said.

Oropi School principal Andrew King said he had seen a 9-year-old with an energy drink, but generally the beverages were not an issue at the school.

He put that down to there being no dairies nearby.

"It's just an unnecessary beverage, they don't need it at all. Nobody needs it," he said.

The school had banned all fizzy drinks and lollies, even for fundraising purposes, so staff could take energy drinks off pupils if necessary.

The owners of Kings Dairy and City Mart both said they would consider imposing an age restriction.

Davinder Singh, of Kings Dairy, said the drinks were so strong and there were many other options in his dairy.

City Mart owner Sebastian Tennys said young people often came into his store to buy energy drinks and it was terrible as they were full of caffeine and sugar.

The New Zealand Beverage Council was disappointed at Countdown's decision.

Spokesman Stephen Jones said there was no evidence to support Countdown's decision given New Zealand already had some of the strongest energy drink regulations in the world, and evidence showed the regulations were working well.

"While we respect the right of Countdown to make this decision, this really is a case of a solution looking for a problem," Jones said.

Jones said a wide range of products contained caffeine and the council would prefer to work together to understand how and why children accessed caffeine and better educate consumers about the caffeine content across all food categories.

The Ministry of Health has warned against energy drinks and energy shots for children or young people.

A 600ml bottle of energy drink provides about 15 teaspoons of sugar.

Although sugar-free energy drinks are available in New Zealand, all energy drinks contain caffeine, "a psychoactive stimulant drug that acts on the central nervous system."

Toi Te Ora Public Health stated New Zealanders consumed, on average, about 37 teaspoons of sugar per day in food and drink.

Adults should ideally consume no more than about six teaspoons of sugar per day, and children no more than about three to four teaspoons per day.