A Survey of Energy Drinks on the Island of Ireland

• Project start date: 12 September 2019
• Project status: Completed
• Discipline: Nutrition
• Principal researcher/s: Safefood internal research

Research objective

To survey the sugar and caffeine content of energy drink products available on the market on the island of Ireland during a one week period in 2019 and to compare this with data gathered in 2015.

Outputs

Research report

• Title: A survey of energy drinks on the island of Ireland
• Publication date: 1 October 2019
• Summary: To survey the sugar and caffeine content of energy drink products available in 2019.
• Findings:
  • There was a small increase in the number of energy dinks products available for purchase in supermarkets on the island of Ireland between 2014 and 2019. 
  • There was a marked increase in the number of energy drinks with a diet or sugar-free alternative. 
  • There was clear growth in the number of own-brand energy drinks available.  
  • There was an increase in the number of drinks sold in 500 ml serving sizes. 
  • The sugar content of the energy drinks decreased both per 100ml and per serving: from 10 g to 6 g per 10 ml and from 31 g to 22.6 g per serving (equivalent to almost 2 level teaspoons of sugar per serving). 
  • The mean caffeine content of all energy drinks increased from 90 mg to 106 mg per serving (80 mg in expresso cup) but remained the same per 100ml. 
  • The most recent data (2018) shows that there are three leading brands in the market place, with a combined market share of 80%. There was a reduction in the sugar content of 1 of the leading brands but no reduction in the sugar content of the other 2. 
  • There was a reduction in the percentage of products eligible for sugar tax – from 74% in 2015 to 41% in 2019.
• Recommendations:

  The profile of energy drinks currently available in supermarkets on the island of Ireland relative to the profile of available drinks in 2015 suggests that the introduction of the sugar tax has coincided with the reduction of the amount of sugar in the drinks.

  However, this reduction needs to be considered in the context of a market place where the 3 leading brands have a combined market share of 80%, and there has been no reduction in 2 of these 3 brands.

  You can download the report and a poster below.

Other outputs

Safefoood website: Energy drinks checker

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