decision made by the government, which was then enforced by
the law which would perhaps be the reason they are so effective.
However with energy drinks it is only a restriction made by
several firms and there is no law to help implement the limita-
tion so its effectiveness is questionable.
Another solution to banning the sale of energy drinks to under
16’s is to impose a tax on energy drinks. However this will be
hard due to the question of ‘what classes as an energy drink?’
one way we could identify an energy drink is by the quantity of
caffeine per 250ml. Red-bull has 80mg of caffeine per 250ml,
filtered coffee has 90mg of caffeine per 250ml which raises the
question do we also impose a tax on coffee? Eventually when we
can ‘identify energy drinks’ we can impose a tax which should
theoretically reduce demand for energy drinks due to the law of
demand; As price increases the demand should decrease, which
ultimately should lead to a decrease in children under 16 con-
suming energy drinks.
On the other hand, some consumers have argued strongly for
energy drinks by saying they help young athletes by allowing
them to “maximise their workouts and training as it can push
physical limits to the extreme.” Another said they consumed
energy drinks because “they have helped them study and revise
for exams in the past and at that time they experienced sharp-
ened alertness and a boost in their energy which was especially
useful on those afternoons where they struggled to concen-
trate”.
Energy drinks have been quite a controversial topic to write
about, as there are strong arguments for both sides. Only as
time continues, will we be able to see whether energy drinks are
a fallacy or an externality. After many years we will be able to
see the effect of the ban of sales of energy drinks to under-16’s,
perhaps young people will not get addicted to energy drinks
from a young age and the number of obese people in the UK will
decline, or perhaps the performance of many young people will
fall. Only time will tell us the true effects.
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