Today I’m (belatedly) sharing two items of interest from the Washington Post:
Using Allergens to Bully Kids
First, the WashPo recently reported on a very disturbing – but apparently not uncommon – phenomenon: kids intentionally exposing their food-allergic peers to potentially deadly allergens as a form of bullying.
Examples cited in the story include a college student having his face smeared with peanut butter during fraternity hazing, and a fifth grader having peanuts hidden in his lunch by school bullies. According to the report, a 2013 survey found that “31 percent of children reported being bullied or harassed specifically because of food allergies.”
If you’re the parent of a food-allergic child who’s been subjected to allergen-related bullying, please feel free to share your family’s experiences in a comment below.
Kids and Energy Drinks: A Dangerous Mix
The WashPo also recently ran an opinion piece by Pat Crawford, senior director of research at the University of California’s Nutrition Policy Institute, and her colleague, Wendi Gosliner, decrying the lack of federal regulation of high-caffeine energy drinks.
According to the authors, “energy drinks are widely marketed to adolescents, putting them at risk of extreme caffeine overload with potentially devastating cardiovascular and neurological consequences. From 2005 to 2011, energy drink-related emergency-room visits rose from 1,494 to 20,783. This included high rates of unintentional exposure in children younger than 6.” (See also my 2014 Lunch Tray post, “Energy Drink Ads Reach Young Kids, Even as Evidence of Dangers Mount“)
The piece describes current efforts in Congress to prevent manufacturers from marketing energy drinks directly to kids, but in the meantime, talk to your own kids – especially teens – about the real risks these beverages pose.
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AmeriBev says
To be clear, the FDA, European Food Safety Authority, and other regulatory agencies around the world have affirmed the safety of energy drinks and their ingredients. Contrary to what people think, most mainstream energy drinks actually have far less caffeine than a similar size coffeehouse coffee. In fact, many have about half as much.
Even so, America’s leading energy drink manufacturers voluntarily go far beyond all federal requirements when it comes to responsible labeling and marketing practices, including displaying total caffeine content – from all sources – on their packages along with advisory statements indicating that the product is not recommended for children, pregnant or nursing women and persons sensitive to caffeine. In addition, mainstream energy drink makers voluntarily adhere to the ABA Guidance for the Responsible Labeling and Marketing of Energy Drinks, which, among other things, outline that energy drinks are not to be marketed to children, including the marketing or sale of energy drinks in schools between grades K-12. Learn more here: EnergyDrinkInformation.com
Bettina Elias Siegel says
Hi AmeriBev: Thanks for adding your perspective here. I’d note, however, that when I wrote about this same topic back in 2014, there was evidence from the Rudd Center that — despite alleged adherence to the industry’s Guidance for the Responsible Labeling and Marketing of Energy Drinks — kids were most definitely being exposed to energy drink ads in a significant way. More here.