Moscow, March 12, 2013
|
As said in the explanatory note to the bill: "Taking into account their negative effect on health of young people who are main consumers of this product, we consider it necessary to ban the production and selling of low-alcohol energy (tonic) drinks in which alcohol (from 1.2% to 12%) and caffeine are included". The document has been introduced by: deputies Nikolai Levichev (the chairman of "A Just Russia" party, the vice-speaker of the State Duma), Oganes Oganyan (the first deputy administrator of "A Just Russia" group), Elena Mizulina (the head of the Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs), her deputy Olga Epifanova; and also members of the "United Russia" group Adam Delimhanov (the first deputy head of the Committee for Federal System and Local Self-government Affairs) and Rizvan Kurbanov (the deputy chairman of the Committee for Constitutional Legislation and State-building).
As said in the explanatory note: "Taking into account that content of caffeine in tonic drinks is usually of upper acceptable daily consumption level (from 150 to 320 milligram per liter), with permissible daily consumption of it of 150 milligram, and the fact that output of tonic drinks is sold in packages of a capacity from 250 milliliters to 500 milliliters, we cannot exclude the possibility of consumption by a young person of more than one package of a tonic drink per day. This can lead to negative impact on health of children, teenagers, pregnant and nursing women, those suffering from chronic diseases of nervous, cardiovascular systems, essential hypertension and other diseases."
According to authors of the bill, analysis of the
low-alcohol energy (tonic) drinks market shows that this
product is initially aimed at young people. According to
Levichev, fruity flavors and carbonation disguise alcohol
and "form a teenager's stereotype: as if a
low-alcohol energy drinks were nearly the same as ordinary
carbonated non-alcohol energy drinks".
