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Public Health measures

My Honourable Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention (Sharon Hodgson MP) has made the following statement:

Today I am publishing the government's response to the consultation on banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children in England. The government has decided to introduce legislation to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 in England. This action will help create the healthiest generation of children ever and supports our shift from sickness to prevention.

The government has a manifesto commitment to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children in England. This has been subject to consultation which ran from 3 September to 26 November 2025. Having considered the consultation responses and the available evidence, this government is taking this decisive action to support the health of our children.

The consultation received 1,095 responses from individuals and organisations, including businesses, public health organisations and enforcement bodies. Overall, there was significant support with the proposal to introduce an age restriction on the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks.

There is a large body of evidence consistently reporting an association between the consumption of high-caffeine energy drinks and a range of possible negative outcomes on children’s physical and mental health, as well as their education. We estimate that around 100,000 children consume high-caffeine energy drinks at least daily in England. Of particular concern, research highlights that children living in more deprived areas and households are more likely to consume these drinks. This means the possible negative outcomes on health and education are likely to be felt unequally across society.

The government has decided to introduce a statutory age restriction as an effective and proportionate way to reduce children's access to high-caffeine energy drinks.

The proposed legislation will:

• ban sales of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years
• apply to drinks, other than tea or coffee, containing more than 150mg caffeine per litre
• apply in all retail settings both in-store and online, while excluding business-to-business sales
• ban sales of high-caffeine energy drinks through vending machines
• provide a minimum implementation period of six months following the publication of the consultation outcome
• be enforced by local authorities

The government will now take forward secondary legislation using powers contained in the Food Safety Act 1990. Subject to Parliamentary approval, we intend for the ban to come into force in April 2027.