Waitrose said customers buying drinks containing more than 150 mg of caffeine per litre would be asked to prove they were over 16 years of age from 5 March.
The move follows calls from campaigners in the UK for a complete ban on the sale of energy drinks to children following findings that the products’ sugar and caffeine content remains high despite reformulation ahead of the soft drinks levy.
Waitrose said that its decision was based on existing labelling guidelines which require any soft drink with more than 150 mg of caffeine per litre to carry a high caffeine content warning and state it is not recommended for children.
The British Soft Drinks Association introduced a voluntary code of practice in 2010 stating that high-caffeine soft drinks should not be promoted or marketed to under-16s.
In 2013, Morrisons announced that it would stop selling the drinks to children under this age in some stores.
Simon Moore, Waitrose director of technical and corporate social responsibility, said: ‘As a responsible retailer, we want to sell these products in line with the labelling guidance.
‘These drinks carry advice stating that they are not recommended for children, so we’re choosing to proactively act on that guidance, particularly given the widespread concerns which have been raised about these drinks when consumed by under-16s.’
Last month, campaign group Action on Sugar found that typical serving sizes of energy drinks were larger than those for other sugary drinks, at an ‘excessive’ 500 ml. Young people in the UK are among the biggest consumers of energy drinks in Europe, figures show.
Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine and Action on Sugar chairman, described the drinks as ‘completely inappropriate’ for children to consume and said they should be banned for under-16s.
