Monday 20 January 2014
Energy drinks are said to be as harmful as drugs and should be banned from schools, according to a government adviser.
Drinks such as Red Bull and Relentless combine sugar and caffeine in such high quantities that children are becoming hyperactive and difficult to control.
Some 500ml cans contain the equivalent of more than 13 teaspoons of sugar and 160mg of caffeine – which is about the same as in four cans of cola.
John Vincent warned a government adviser said: ‘Energy drinks are effectively another form of drugs.’
Mr Vincent, who co-founded the Leon restaurant group, is part of a team recruited by the Government to improve the nutrition of meals served to youngsters. He said: ‘The amount of sugar and caffeine in these drinks is in our view effectively allowing drugs into schools.
‘We don’t do that and neither do we think that should be part of school life. It has a hugely damaging effect on their ability to concentrate, how they feel and it is having health effects.’
The Food Standards Agency advises that children limit their intake of drinks that are high in caffeine. A spokesman added that consuming the drinks ‘could potentially lead to short-term effects such as increased excitability, irritability, nervousness or anxiety’.
