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- Lower the tone: The Prosecutor General's Office was asked to stop the sale of energy products on the Internet
Lower the tone: The Prosecutor General's Office was asked to stop the sale of energy products on the Internet
Public activists are asking the Prosecutor General's Office to check the implementation of the rules for selling energy drinks to minors on the Internet. Since March 1, the sale of such drinks to children has been prohibited, but they can still be freely purchased on online platforms, and passport and age are usually not asked at the pick-up point. This was revealed by the public Council of Rospotrebnadzor. Moreover, violations may concern not only energy companies, but also other 18+ goods, according to the State Duma Security Committee — parliamentarians propose to approach the problem of such sales "more comprehensively."
Why children can buy energy drinks
The Prosecutor General's Office is being urged to take measures in connection with the sale of energy drinks to minors on online platforms. The head of the department, Igor Krasnov, was asked about this by Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor, head of the Public Consumer Initiative (OPI).
The sale of energy drinks to minors in Russia has been banned since March 1, 2025. The seller may ask the buyer to provide proof of age documents. The decision to ban the sale of non-alcoholic tonic drinks to minors is intended to protect them from consuming products that may harm their health. In addition to children, their use is contraindicated in pregnant women, women during breastfeeding, people with chronic diseases, pathologies of the digestive system, diseases of the heart and blood vessels, diseases of the central nervous system, endocrine disorders, as well as the elderly. Doctors warn that energy drinks can cause increased blood pressure, disorientation and tremor, insomnia, aggression towards others, diarrhea, hallucinations, lethargy and tachycardia.
In a letter that Izvestia has, Oleg Pavlov reports that the OPI conducted a monitoring study of the range and order of sale of non-alcoholic tonic drinks (BTN) on the largest online platforms. According to him, the public figures made control purchases and revealed a number of significant violations.
The mechanisms used by online platforms for processing and issuing orders help circumvent the ban on the sale of BTN to minors effective from March 1, 2025, he notes.
"Despite the established restrictions, currently a child can still freely register an account, specifying false or incomplete information about himself, order energy drinks, including with payment by his personal bank card (issued to a minor), without presenting a passport, receive these drinks both from a courier and in the order pick—up point," the appeal says.
The document states: online sellers do not check the age of the buyer when ordering, paying for and transferring energy drinks, this effectively negates the ban on the sale of energy drinks to minors. In this regard, there remains a real threat of harm to their health.
The letter also notes the peculiarity of remote trading on online platforms, which involves the participation of several entities in the sale at once: the owner of the service, the seller, the courier service, the pick-up point of orders. This, according to Oleg Pavlov, blurs responsibility for such offenses.
— In this regard, we ask the Prosecutor General's Office to intervene in the current situation and ban such sales of energy products, and bring the perpetrators to justice. Similar restrictions apply to alcohol, the sale of which via the Internet is prohibited, since it is impossible to ensure full control over the age of the buyer. Alcoholic beverages can only be purchased at stationary retail outlets that have the appropriate license, while citizens are required to present a specific document to confirm their age. Similar restrictions should be applied to energy companies," Oleg Pavlov explained to Izvestia.
He also recalled that on May 22, the State Duma adopted immediately in the second and third readings a bill on the introduction of fines in the Administrative Code for the sale of energy drinks to minors. So, for citizens, the penalty will be up to 50 thousand rubles, for officials a fine of up to 200 thousand, for legal entities — up to 500 thousand.
Izvestia sent a request to the Prosecutor General's Office and major online platforms with a request to comment on the appeal of the public figure.
Wildberries told Izvestia that they always strictly comply with the requirements of the laws of the countries of their presence and promptly adapt their processes to new standards.
"Due to the entry into force of the ban on the sale of energy drinks to minors, we have implemented the necessary control measures in advance," the marketplace's press service noted.
They added that such products have long been classified as 18+ on the platform, and the images of the cards of these products are automatically hidden until the buyer confirms their age. Delivery of goods to 18+ customers is possible only upon presentation of a document confirming the age of majority.
— The marketplace will carefully study the received monitoring study and conduct an internal check for the unavailability of purchasing these products by persons under the age of majority. If any violations are found, the company will take immediate measures to eliminate them, the company said.
In the catalog of Yandex Shops and Yandex Food, photos of energy drinks are hidden from minors. To see them, the user must first confirm their age in the application, the company told Izvestia. Orders containing an energy drink, the representatives of the marketplace added, are delivered to the customer's hands — they cannot be left at the door. The courier will make sure that the recipient is 18 years old by checking their passport or other identification document.
"At the same time, we are in the process of developing a separate algorithm for verifying the age of the buyer, so that the process is more convenient for both the client and the courier," the company explained.
What are the dangers of energy
The sale of such products on the Internet must be stopped and measures taken against those who do not comply with the law, Anatoly Vyborny, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security from the United Russia faction, told Izvestia. The use of energy drinks can lead to unpredictable consequences, especially for children, he noted.
According to him, the name "energetik" already has an attractive association with teenage drive, the opportunity to be on trend and gain additional strength, but this is a deception, since they contain harmful components for the body, the use of which can lead to death.
In addition, it is necessary to stop the sale of all products labeled 18+ to minors on the Internet. If this is a systematic story, then more comprehensive response and control measures are needed, the deputy added.
Currently, in addition to alcohol, tobacco, and nicotine-containing products, as well as energy products, it is prohibited to sell lighters and products containing liquefied petroleum gas, pyrotechnics, and pyrotechnic products (firecrackers, fireworks, fireworks, Roman candles, and so on) to minors, with the exception of sparklers and firecrackers.
Earlier, a video appeared on the network where a mother scolded the staff of the online delivery point, as well as her 10-year-old son, who was sold a scooter without her permission. "They didn't ask for any documents, but you see what you're giving and to whom? And if it had crashed, I would have filed a complaint against you and the seller," she says in the video.
Energy drinks can lead to particularly dangerous consequences for the cardiovascular system, including atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy and sudden cardiac death, explained Larisa Gabdulkhakova, a nutritionist and nutritionist.
— High amounts of caffeine, taurine, sugar, and B vitamins may contribute to this. After all, the composition of energy drinks is aimed at increasing the heart rate, and therefore blood pressure (BP) and contractility of the heart," she told Izvestia.
According to her, the known and unknown pharmacological properties of the components of energy drinks can lead to caffeine poisoning and other negative consequences when consumed by young people.
Caffeine poisoning can cause tachycardia, vomiting, cardiac arrhythmia, seizures, and even death. Other health problems associated with energy drink consumption include obesity and tooth enamel erosion due to the acidity of energy drinks, she stressed.
The most serious consequences occur when alcohol is consumed in combination with energy drinks. Several researchers have demonstrated that this leads to a change in subjective feelings, including a decrease in the perception of intoxication, the expert added.
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