Connecticut HB 7007: An Act Prohibiting The Sale of Energy Drinks to Persons Under Sixteen Years of Age

Senator Abrams, Representative Linehan and members of the Committee, my name is Sally Mancini and I am the Director of Advocacy Resources at the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. The UConn Rudd Center’s mission is to promote solutions to childhood obesity, poor diet, and weight bias through research and policy. We believe that every child, regardless of who they are, where they live, and what they look like, deserves the opportunity to eat healthfully.

The UConn Rudd Center strongly supports prohibiting the sale of energy drinks to children under the age of 16 as laid out in HB 7007. Based on the Center’s research on this topic, we see a need for this regulation for three primary reasons: 1) energy drink consumption is dangerous for children and teens; 2) energy drink companies aggressively market their products to youth; and 3) energy drinks are extremely accessible and widely purchased by adolescents. We also encourage you to include energy shots (2- to 3-oz concentrated liquids that contain 113 to 200 mg of caffeine) in this legislation.