Lawmakers in the State’s House of Representatives passed a bill today that would create a working group to study the impacts of energy drinks on children, a public information campaign regarding energy drinks risks to children, and require store owners selling energy drinks to post written signage denoting the potential risks of energy drink consumption for children.

The bill originally called for banning the sale of all energy drinks to children under the age of 16, but Rep. Liz Linehan (D-Cheshire), Co-Chair of the Committee on Children, introduced an amendment today, which was passed by verbal vote, to lessen the scope of the bill. 

“This bill on its face is actually a consumer advocacy bill for parents to alert them in a better way than just requiring that a parent goes out and does all this research for themselves,” said Linehan.

According to the CDC, 1,499 adolescents were admitted to emergency rooms in 2011 for energy-drink-related complications. It lists the dangers of energy drink consumption in children as dehydration, heart complications, anxiety and insomnia. Linehan said that the idea for the bill stemmed from the findings of students at a middle school in Naugatuck, who had done a science project on energy drinks.

“They themselves had gone through all of this data, and some metadata,” said Linehan. “They had asked if there was anything that we could do as a legislature to help protect kids.”

Linehan said that from the years 2007 to 2011, over 20,000 people had been recorded as having visited emergency rooms for irregular heartbeats as a result of energy drinks. 

“At that time, the sale of energy drinks was much less than it is now, the market has grown exponentially,” said Linehan. “With that, we can assume that the adverse effects of people are going to grow with it.”

Under the amended version of the bill, members of the working group would be chosen by the Commissioners of Public Health and Consumer Protection. The working group would study the risks associated with energy drink consumption in children, the impacts of a future ban on the sale of energy drinks to children, and would make recommendations for a public awareness campaign concerning these risks, to be broadcast via television and social media. 

The working group would be composed of members of the Committee on Children, an advertising/marketing expert, a parent of a child who has experienced adverse health effects or death as a result of energy drinks, a pediatric cardiologist, a representative of a state-wide chapter of a national association of pediatricians, a representative of the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, a representative of a manufacturer of energy drinks and a representative of a statewide association of food retailers and wholesalers. The working group would submit a report on its study and recommendations to the Committees on Children, Public Health and Consumer Protection by November 1, 2024.

The bill also calls for the creation and placement of signage in any storefront selling energy drinks, informing consumers of the potential risks they pose to children under 16. The signage would be developed by the Department of Consumer Protection by December 1, 2024, and be made available for print on the Department’s website. The Department of Public Health would also have to develop and post a document to its webpage on the risks of energy drink consumption by children to its website by January 1, 2025.

Several organizations provided written testimony in support of the bill such as the Connecticut Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference. 

Several Republican Representatives took issue with the bill, believing it to be infringing upon the freedoms of parents and store owners, as well as a misuse of state resources. Several representatives also took issue with the bill giving the appointing rights to the Commissioners of Public Health and Consumer Protection, out of concern that Republican legislators could be left out.

“I get that we are in the minority and there’s little we can do about that,” said Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco (R-Southington). “But I don’t think it’s right, and that’s the problem. That’s a big concern I have with this working group.”

Rep. Craig Fishbein (R-Middlefield) shared that concern, and said that while he agreed with the intent of the bill and the measures it takes, that the appointment process “puts me in a position of opposing the amendment.”

Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria (R-Beacon Falls) said the bill would set a negative precedent, requiring signage for everything.

“If we are going to put a sign up for energy drinks, I personally would like to see a sign go up for coffee, or supplements, for potato chips,” said Klarides-Ditria. “I will continue to listen to the debate here today, but I’m not quite sure that this is something that I can fully support.”

Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-Durham) said the bill is “an embarrassment for the State of Connecticut,” and that the legislature should be focused on more pressing issues in regard to children, such as children in DCF care.

“Everybody in this building cares about children’s health, no question,” said Candelora. “Maybe there should be different priorities in this building, rather than focusing on energy drinks and creating a task force.”

Mastrofrancesco introduced an amendment that would remove the section requiring stores to put signage up, claiming that it would place undue stress on businesses.

“I’ve worked closely with members on the other side of the aisle to significantly water down this legislation,” said Linehan. “I made a promise, as the chair of this committee, on our last day before we voted it out of committee, that I would work diligently to find language that would not infringe upon the rights of parents to make decisions for their kids, but to help them, and that’s what this is.” 

The amendment failed with a vote of 55-94.

Rep. Fishbein introduced an amendment that would slightly change the parameters of the working group. It proposed the addition of an athletic trainer, the chair of the Public Health Committee, and stipulated that only the leadership of the Children’s Committee, instead of the entirety of it, would be privy to the working group. Linehan stood in agreement with the amendment, considering it a “friendly amendment” and it was passed by verbal vote.

Ultimately, the bill passed with a vote of 85-64. It will require passage in the Senate and the Governor’s signature before it can be officially recognized as law.

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