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Tonic defect: energy companies will be warned about the harm to health in advertising
Advertisements for energy drinks and tonic drinks may be required to include a health warning. The Cabinet of Ministers gave a positive response to such a bill. In addition, the promotion of such products should not appeal to children and talk about the content of useful vitamins. Regular consumption of energy drinks can lead to serious consequences for children's health, as well as addiction, the doctors emphasized. About the dangers of energy drinks — in the material of Izvestia.
How to restrict the display of ads
Health warnings may require you to add energy drinks and tonic drinks to your ads. The bill, submitted to the State Duma in April 2025 by a group of deputies, received a positive response from the government, taking into account the amendments (Izvestia has it).
The bill proposes to supplement the federal law "On Advertising" with Article 25.1, Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association, told Izvestia.
— Advertising of such drinks will be accompanied by a warning about the dangers of their excessive consumption, — he noted. — In radio, television, film and video services, there will also be requirements for the minimum display area of the warning on the screen. Roughly speaking, this is a requirement for the visibility and size of the warning text.
In addition, according to the bill, a warning in radio advertising should last at least three seconds, on television — at least five and occupy at least 7% of the frame area. For violating these requirements, the authors of the initiative proposed punishing both advertisers and its distributors. If the amendments are adopted, they will enter into force on September 1, 2025.
According to Vladimir Gruzdev, the previously adopted legislation also implies changes in terms of advertising aimed at minors.
— It is planned to add a norm to the projected article that prevents the potential promotion of the use of tonic drinks among children, — he said. — Such advertising should not be directed at minors, contain information about biologically active additives, vitamins, as well as use images of animals and people, including through animation.
The initiative was also supported by the Health Protection Committee. As the chairman of the committee, Sergey Leonov, pointed out, a large-scale information and educational campaign is needed aimed at warning the population, especially young people, about the possible risks of abuse of energy drinks.
— This is exactly the measure provided for by this draft law. Undoubtedly, its implementation will help raise awareness among citizens about the dangers of excessive and daily consumption of energy drinks," he stressed.
According to the deputy, such drinks do not have beneficial properties for human health, as they contain caffeine, taurine, L-carnitine, and glucuronolactone, which in excess can cause serious harm to the health of both young and adult organisms.
The authors of the bill also noted that insomnia (35.4%), stress (35.4%) and depression (23.1%) are common side effects among children when consuming non-alcoholic energy drinks. Among adults, such undesirable phenomena as insomnia (24.7%), trembling in the hands (29.8%) and gastrointestinal disorders (21.6%) were often noted.
"Consumption of sugar-containing beverages is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and kidney failure," the explanatory note says.
What are the dangers of energy drinks?
For a long time, energy companies were perceived as nothing more than a type of soda that quickly increased efficiency, Kirill Masliev, Candidate of Medical Sciences, member of the State Council Commission on Active Long-term Life, head of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Rudn University, reminded Izvestia.
"We positively assess this restrictive initiative," the expert said. — The image of the person who consumes this product was considered to be approved by society. As a result, the audience of power engineers was getting younger, as were various health disorders. Uncontrolled absorption of this drink is especially dangerous.
The biggest harm, according to him, is caused by a high dose of caffeine, which helps to mobilize the body's internal reserves. Even after crossing the threshold of 400 mg of caffeine per day for adults and 100 mg for adolescents under 18 years of age, problems begin.
— The reaction to such a dose of caffeine is trembling, a feeling of heat, an accelerated heartbeat, nervousness, up to panic attacks, sleep disorders, upset stomach, — he explained. — The effect can be cumulative. Energy drinks also have a high sugar content — fast carbohydrates give strength. This is a powerful blow to the stomach and pancreas. Energy drinks are absolutely contraindicated for diabetics.
To attract customers, manufacturers use healthful supplements as a marketing advantage. L-carnitine, taurine and vitamins are added. At the same time, it is impossible to determine exactly how much damage an energy worker will cause to a particular person — the blow will fall on the weakest organs.
In addition to a shock dose of caffeine, equivalent to three to four cups of coffee in one can, energy drinks contain taurine, guarana and a large amount of sugar, added Ekaterina Demyanovskaya, a neurologist and expert at the Hemotest laboratory.
"Teenagers who constantly consume energy drinks have a higher risk of hypertension and cardiac arrhythmias," she pointed out. — Another insidious consequence is the effect on cognitive functions. Contrary to the advertising promises of improved concentration, energy drinks cause the opposite effect: after a short-term rise, a sharp decline occurs, short-term memory, attention, and learning ability deteriorate.
According to her, children who often drink tonic drinks have disrupted the natural mechanisms of energy production, as their bodies have not yet developed resistance to such stimulants. In addition, mental dependence may appear. Children quickly get used to artificial stimulation and lose the ability to concentrate without a tonic drink.
"A vicious circle is forming: the more energy drinks a child consumes, the worse his natural energy regulation system works," the doctor added. — At the same time, a sharp refusal can cause a real withdrawal syndrome with headaches, irritability and depressive states.
Also, when abusing energy drinks, anxiety and difficulty falling asleep are possible — all this complex of negative effects combined with psychoemotional stress can exhaust a teenager, added Elena Igrineva, pediatrician, neonatologist at Invitro.
— Energy drinks suppress the natural feeling of hunger, sometimes replacing full lunches and dinners, — said the specialist. — The body is deprived of essential nutrients, energy reserves are depleted, which can provoke an exacerbation of chronic pathologies of the digestive system.
In addition, cases of myocardial infarction and severe arrhythmias have been recorded in adolescents without pre-existing heart diseases, which is directly related to regular or excessive consumption of energy drinks, said Dmitry Kazakov, pediatrician at the Sberbank Health medical company.
"The consumption of such drinks also affects the dental health of children and adolescents," he added. — Energy drinks have a high acidity compared to conventional carbonated drinks, which causes increased sensitivity of tooth enamel, its destruction, and leads to caries.
How the legislation changed
An active fight against the harmful effects of energy drinks has been underway for several years. In May 2025, State Duma deputies adopted amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences in the second and third readings, establishing responsibility for the sale of non-alcoholic tonic drinks to minors.
"Our task is to protect children and protect them from consuming products that dangerously affect their health," Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma, wrote on his Telegram channel.
According to the law, fines for the illegal sale of such drinks to minors will amount to up to 50 thousand rubles for citizens, up to 200 thousand rubles for officials, and up to 500 thousand rubles for legal entities.
In July 2024, a law was passed prohibiting the sale of energy tonic drinks to minors throughout the country. It entered into force on March 1, 2025. If the seller has doubts about the age of the buyer, he can ask him to show proof of age documents.
But even before the decision on restrictions at the federal level, such bans were actively introduced by regional authorities — by the summer of last year, they were already in effect in 65 regions. In particular, in Belgorod, Voronezh, Ivanovo, Moscow and other regions. In addition, the law has given the regions additional powers so that they can restore order in this area — we are talking about the possibility of limiting the place and time of sale of such drinks.
According to doctors, the optimal solution is to completely abandon such drinks, since it is quite easy to get an overdose. Dangerous symptoms, according to her, can be manifested by rapid heartbeat, fluctuations in blood pressure, difficulty breathing, tremor of limbs, emotional overexcitation, headaches. In case of acute conditions, you should immediately seek medical help, and before the arrival of specialists, provide the victim with clean water and access to fresh air.
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