Would Energy Drink Ban for Minors Lead to Coffee Prohibition?

NEW YORK Banning the sale of energy drinks to minors could create a "slippery slope," a representative of the beverage industry warned Friday, two days after a local board in New York expressed its support for such a prohibition.

Should such a ban take place, "to be consistent then coffeehouses [like] Starbucks and others would have to card young adults before serving them coffee or tea," remarked Chris Gindlesperger, Senior Director of Public Affairs for the American Beverage Association, in a brief phone interview Friday.

Lawmakers and others have expressed grave concerns over the levels of caffeine and other ingredients like guarana and taurine in energy drinks on the heels of reports linking such beverages to deaths and other adverse health effects.

But Gindlesperger said caffeine content in energy drinks is roughly half that of a brew in a coffeehouse like Starbucks.

The Board of Health in Suffolk County, N.Y. on Wednesday unanimously urged county lawmakers to prohibit the sale of energy drinks to individuals who are younger than 19, Newsday reported.

The board cited potential health dangers, including elevated heart rates, higher blood pressure, dizziness and possible death.

A letter will be sent to William Lindsay, a Suffolk County legislator who is the presiding officer, the report said.

Lindsay didn't immediately respond Friday to an emailed request for comment on the report.

"We're here to try to protect our children and we have to keep their best interests at heart," Tracy Trypuc, a health board member and registered nurse, was quoted as saying.

Gindlesperger noted ABA's members, including Red Bull and Monster Beverage, have adopted voluntary guidance drafted by the association for the responsible labeling and marketing of energy drinks. One of the guidelines states that energy drinks should not be marketed to children, and a separate guideline calls for an advisory statement on labels that such drinks are not intended or recommended for children, pregnant or nursing women and those sensitive to caffeine.

But recent reports linking energy drinks and shots to several deaths have raised a number of questions over the safety of such beverages and whether they should be subject to a different framework of regulations.

In a recent letter to Sen. Dick Durbin, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed it's investigating the safety of energy drinks and indicated it may engage outside expertise to study the issue.

In Suffolk County, the draft letter calls for a similar federal ban on energy drinks, Newsday reported, and will be sent to the FDA and two Democrats in the U.S. Senate who have raised concerns over energy drinks: Durbin and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.