UK retailers Asda and Aldi have joined Waitrose in banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under the age of 16.
Asda notes that it is the first of the country's 'big four' supermarkets to make a move on this issue, and will introduce the age restriction on 84 products in its 646 stores from Monday 5 March.
“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," said Andrew Murray, chief customer officer at Asda.
"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.”
Age Inspection
Discount retailer Aldi also said that customers buying soft drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre will be asked to prove their age from the start of March.
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.”
The discounter also announced that it would be introducing age restrictions on the sale of energy drinks in Ireland; the first retailer to do so in this market.
Earlier this month, Waitrose became the first retailer in the UK to introduce the measure, building on EU guidelines.
ESM previously examined the energy drinks segment, and the concerns surrounding caffeine and sugar, in our new series, 'The A-Z of Retail'.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
