Chamber and committees

Scottish Government submission of 19 January 2022

PE1919/A – Ban the sale of high caffeine products to children for performance enhancement

I write in response to your email of 17 December 2021 on behalf of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee with regard to Petition PE1919 which states the following:

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ban the sale of fast release caffeine gum to under 18s for performance enhancement due to risk of serious harm.

The Scottish Government’s response to the petition is set out below, reflecting the petitioner’s focus on caffeinated chewing gum.

Scottish Government’s energy drinks consultation

We consulted on Ending the sale energy drinks to children and young people from December 2018 – February 2019. This fulfilled a commitment in our 2018 Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan. The consultation paper’s focus was on energy drinks. It stated (Annex B, paragraph 7):

We know that young people consume caffeine from other dietary sources. However, it would take a large amount of chocolate to consume the same level of caffeine as in one can of energy drink. In addition, there is no evidence that young people overconsume caffeine from other caffeinated foods or drinks.

That said, the consultation paper did provide an opportunity for respondents to raise concerns in relation to other food and drink products, such as caffeine gum. As part of the consultation, we asked for views on our proposals and thoughts on any gaps, issues or unintended consequences. We also invited views from a range of organisations and individuals to ensure we identified the best actions, if any, to take forward.

We are currently considering responses to the consultation and evidence. We will publish an independent consultation analysis report and set out our policy response in due course. This work has been delayed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other competing priorities.

We will make the committee aware of any findings related to caffeinated chewing gum upon the publication of the consultation analysis report.

Labelling rules for high caffeine drinks and food

Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 (retained) on the provision of food information to consumers requires specific labelling for high caffeine drinks and food to help highlight the existence of caffeine in the product where, unlike coffee or tea, people may not expect it to be present. Chewing gum falls under the definition of food in food law and when placed on the market as such it will be regulated under food law. There are no legislative limits on the amount of caffeine that may be present in, or added to, food or drink. Further information on these rules are set out in the Annex.

Caffeine as performance enhancer

Caffeine for in-competition use remains on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Monitoring Program in 2022. As set out in the World Anti-Doping Code, caffeine is not on the Prohibited List, but WADA wishes to monitor in order to detect potential patterns of misuse in sport.

Caffeine safety

In May 2015, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine. The opinion estimates acute and daily intakes that raise no safety concerns for the general healthy population and in specific groups such as children, adolescents, adults, the elderly, pregnant and lactating women, and people performing physical exercise.

It advised that single doses of caffeine up to 200mg from all sources do not raise safety concerns for the generally healthy adult population. With the exception of pregnant women, daily intakes of caffeine up to 400mg do not raise safety concerns for healthy adults.

Extensive evidence considered by (EFSA) included studies on the effect of caffeine when combined with exercise. This did not raise safety concerns for healthy adults and only pregnant women are advised to moderate their intake of caffeinated products. 

For children and adolescents, EFSA’s opinion explains that there is insufficient information available to set a safe caffeine intake. However, EFSA considered that due to children and adolescents processing caffeine at least at the same rate as adults, the single doses of no concern for adults may also be applied to children as a daily limit. This is about 3mg of caffeine per kilo of body weight per day.

It should be noted that EFSA did not consider the possible adverse effects of caffeine:

• in groups of the population affected by a disease or medical condition
• in combination with medicines and/or drugs of abuse
• in combination with alcohol doses which, by themselves, pose a risk to health (e.g. during pregnancy, binge drinking).

Further general information from EFSA on caffeine can be found here.

View on sudden cardiac deaths in Scotland

Direct evidence on caffeinated gum and heart arrythmia is limited at present. We will continue to keep any emerging evidence under review.

We continue to monitor and consider all available evidence and recommendations from the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent expert advisory group, which inform decisions taken across the UK on screening programmes. The last UK NSC review of a potential population screening programme for Sudden Cardiac Death concluded in December 2019 and it does not currently recommend that a screening programme be carried out.

The next review of this recommendation is estimated to be completed in 2022 to 2023. Further information about the UK NSC’s current recommendation, including the evidence used for the review is available online.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

We are committed to delivering a proactive culture of everyday accountability for children’s rights across public services in Scotland. The UNCRC was ratified at a UK level in 1991. On 16 March 2021, the Scottish Parliament unanimously passed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill (“the Bill”), which will enable children, young people and their representatives to enforce their rights in court. On 6 October 2021, the UK Supreme Court judgment on the Bill found each of the provisions referred by the UK Law Officers to be outwith the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. While the judgment means that the Bill could not receive Royal Assent in its current form, the majority of work in relation to implementation of the UNCRC can proceed and is continuing.

Previous Petition on energy drinks

On June 23 2017 Scottish Government officials responded to petition PE1642 calling on a ban on the sale of caffeinated energy drinks to children under 16.

I hope the Committee finds this information helpful.