SDP proposes a ban on the sale of energy drinks to minors

On Friday the SDP submitted amendments to the Trade Act and the Catering Act into parliamentary procedure, proposing a ban on the sale and serving of energy drinks to minors.

The move was announced by SDP MP Sabina Glasovac: “We are proposing what should have been done a long time ago - a ban on the sale of energy drinks to minors and placing them in the same regime as alcohol and tobacco products.”

Also presenting the proposed legislation was SDP MEP Biljana Borzan, who said that it is high time to protect children from energy drinks, which she said are a serious health risk for children and adolescents, citing warnings from medical professionals and health institutions: “Energy drinks are a legal danger for teenagers. Children are not small adults - their hearts, brains and nervous systems are still developing.”

Excessive amounts of caffeine, sugar and other stimulants can cause rapid heartbeat, insomnia, anxiety and dehydration, while in the long term they increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and concentration problems. Borzan also warned about the increasingly lower age at which children start consuming energy drinks, highlighting their wide availability and aggressive advertising: “Today, an 11 or 12-year-old child can buy an energy drink almost anywhere, without any age verification.”

Borzan went on to note that the SDP had already proposed similar changes to the law in 2018 and 2022, but to no avail: “The HDZ government has done nothing, and that is why today for the third time we insist that the Croatian Parliament protect the health of children.”

The SDP Vice President and Member of European Parliament would also go on to note that numerous studies confirm strong public support for banning the sale of energy drinks to minors: “As many as 88 percent of citizens believe that the sale of energy drinks to minors should be banned. Around 86 percent of sixteen-year-olds consume energy drinks, and almost half of them drink them in combination with alcohol.”

Borzan added that awareness of the problem has been increasingly growing at the European level: “In the European Union, seven countries have already banned the sale of energy drinks to minors, while in several other countries this measure is being discussed in national parliaments, and some retail chains have introduced restrictions on their own initiative.”

She expressed the hope that a similar approach will prevail in Croatia as well: “This is an opportunity to show how a law in the interest of children's health can be passed by consensus, regardless of whether the proposal comes from the opposition.”

Source: HRT