High caffeine soft drinks forced to carry extra warning

Soft drinks with a high caffeine content will be expected to carry a warning that they are not suitable for children, pregnant women, or people sensitive to caffeine, under a new industry code of practice.

The code, published by the British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA), will also mean that high caffeine drinks must not be promoted or marketed to under-16s.

The code of practice will also apply to energy shots if they are marketed as soft drinks.

But the code only applies to BSDA members. High caffeine soft drinks are defined as products which contain more than 150mg of caffeine.

Under the current law these types of drinks must carry the statement "High in caffeine".

A BSDA spokesman told The Publican​ most of its members already followed the code guidelines.

Jill Ardagh, BSDA's director general, said: "The guidelines published today show industry strengthening its commitment to informing consumer choice about the drinks that are suitable for children.

"Many adults enjoy drinking high caffeine content soft drinks, but these drinks are not manufactured for children, and it is responsible to say so on the label."

Red Bull is not currently a member of the BSDA. A company spokesman said: "We have not been involved in the development of the BSDA code because we were not a member of BSDA when it was developed.

"However, we are actively engaged in the development of a European code of practice for the labelling and marketing of energy drinks.

"We are confident that BSDA will align their code with the European one once it is finalised."