Labor said the sale of high-caffeine drinks to under-16s is “not acceptable” while children are left “ashamed to speak” because of the state of their teeth.
Labor has announced plans to ban the sale of energy drinks to under-16s and create 100,000 extra emergency dental appointments.
Sir Keir Starmer said it was “not justifiable or acceptable” for retailers to sell high-caffeine drinks to young people and “we will put an end to it”.
“I will always make the tough decisions needed to keep our children healthy,” the Labor leader said.
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The ban applies to drinks that contain more than 150 mg caffeine per liter.
Labor said it expects soft drinks such as Coca-Cola to fall below the limit, but a 500ml can of Monster Energy would exceed it.
Sky News was the first to report Labor was already considering the ban in Februaryamid mounting evidence of the health risks to young people of energy drinks.
Up to a third of children in Britain consume at least one a week, especially boys. This is evident from a study conducted by the government.
Researchers say the evidence supporting restrictions is growing, due to the drinks’ effects on diabetes mental and physical health – along with concerns about the way they are marketed to young people.
‘I have tried different super glues for my teeth’
A large bottle can contain twice as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, as well as a high sugar content.
The ban would not apply to tea and coffee, Sky News understands, and will be enforced in the same way as alcohol and tobacco regulations.
‘Really exciting’
The plan was welcomed by TV chef Jamie Oliver, who has long campaigned for children’s better access to healthy food.
In a post on
‘Children’s health has not been central to any manifesto in the past twenty years, never, never, never. You’ve never seen it on a bus with a number.
“This is really exciting for me. It means they’re looking at the details, it means they’re looking at the science.”
Additional dental appointments for children
In addition to the energy drinks ban, Labor today outlined plans to create an additional 100,000 dental appointments for children in a bid to tackle the backlog in England.
The appointments will take place on evenings and weekends, financed by a crackdown on tax avoidance and tightening of the rules for non-domestic tax status.
This is in addition to previously announced proposals introduce supervised brushing to strengthen the dental health of young people.
Other Labor plans for dentistry include doubling the number of NHS scanners by investing in AI equipment, reforming the dental contract and introducing signing bonuses to recruit dentists to areas in need.
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The proposals will cost £109 million a year, Labor said.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘What a tragic indictment of the state of NHS dentistry under the Conservatives, that children are ashamed to speak because of the state of their teeth.
“Labor will provide an additional 100,000 appointments for children each year and supervised teeth brushing for three to five year olds, to put a smile on children’s faces again.”
The Conservatives have their own £200 million ‘dental recovery plan’, which includes cash incentives to take on new NHS patients and work in underserved areas.
In their manifesto launched today, they have also set out a requirement to ensure that newly trained dentists must “work in the NHS for a number of years or repay their training costs”.
The plans come amid a crisis in NHS dentistry, with reports from people pulling out their own teeth because they can’t get an appointment.
According to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, tooth extractions due to tooth decay have increased by 17% in the past 12 months in patients aged 0 to 19 years.
Tooth decay remains the most common reason young people between the ages of five and nine are admitted to hospital.
Hospital admissions for dental extractions in children cost NHS hospitals £64.3 million last year, while tooth decay-related extractions cost £40.7 million.