HAUPPAUGE – Suffolk
County, N.Y., has passed a measure that prohibits energy drinks from being
advertised to minors, Supermarket News reports. Suffolk County Executive Steve
Bellone signed the Energy Drink Education and Protection Plan this week.
The ordinance
also prohibits the sale of energy drinks in county parks to anyone under 18.
The measure also includes a public education component. “My goal is not to
limit business, it’s not to have the government parent, it’s to have parents
parent,” said Dr. William Spencer, the county legislator who sponsored the
plan. “It crosses the line when you have [an energy drink] sample that’s
labeled ‘not recommended for children,’ mailed directly to a minor.”
Not everyone
sees the plan as a good thing. The American Beverage Association views it as
“misguided. … “We are disappointed that the legislation passed by the Suffolk
County Legislature has now been made into law by the actions of the County Executive.
The Legislature itself acknowledged that the bills were less about substance
and more about sending a message. Public policy should be based of facts and
science, and these Suffolk
County laws are based on
neither.”
Suffolk County is not the only locality seeking to
limit or outright ban energy drinks. A Chicago
alderman wants to prohibit the sale of energy drinks within city limits,
but that proposal is losing support.