Energy drink addict’ kids’ fury at ban Scuffle breaks out in his shop
A SHOPKEEPER is facing an angry backlash from kids as young as 12 after refusing to sell them high energy drinks.
Rajendra Parekh says youngsters hooked on brands including Red Bull, Monster, Mountain Dew and other caffeine-laced drinks get aggressive after his ban on sales to under-18s.
A scuffle involving a 12-year-old even broke out, as tempers flared, and police are looking into it.
Mr Parekh currently sells around 400 cans a week to adults at his corner shop in Staplehurst, Kent.
“Energy drinks are one of the worst t hings t o have happened to this country in this century,” he said. “They are worse than smoking, wacky backy and alcohol. I can’t control these kids. They get all aggressive, pu put the money on the counte counter and run out with the drink and I try to stop them. I tell all the children not to drink them.”
But he says he often gets abuse from pumped up youngsters when he lectures them about the dangers.
The British Medical Journal has reported a man developing acute hepatitis from four to five energy products every day for three weeks.
Doctors said it was caused by too much vitamin B3 (niacin). And the World Health Organisation says caffeine overdose can cause palpitations, nausea, convulsions and even death.
The drinks are also dangerous for patients with Type 2 diabetes. And they can also contribute to behaviour problems and bad teeth in kids.
The British Soft Drinks Association states that high-caffeine drinks should not be marketed to under-16s.