Canada's energy drink crackdown needs more than recalls to dissuade kids, say parents and teachers

Every year, Juliet Brown watches teenagers cluster together and one-up each other about who got the least amount of sleep the night before. Later, between classes, she'll watch as the same groups buy energy drinks from a nearby gas station to fight off heavy eyes.

"There seems to be this celebration of fatigue … like, 'Oh, I stayed up until 3:00. Well, I stayed up until 4:00,' " said Brown, a high school educator in Burnaby, B.C., with three children of her own.

"Then if you add energy drinks or something with that caffeine, you've got a perfect storm of kids who are both tired and overstimulated."

Brown is among the parents who say they're glad to see Canadian officials seemingly cracking down on caffeine-loaded energy drinks, but who also agree pulling the drinks off shelves won't be enough — any recalls need to be paired with tighter rules and a better understanding of influencer marketing if they're going to make a dent in a billion-dollar market.

"That's the huge mountain for us to be climbing," said Brown.

Adults have long worried about energy drinks not only for the caffeine content, but the way they're aimed at young customers. The drinks come in neon cans and fruit flavours like peach mango and strawberry lemonade, appealing to teenagers who might still cringe at the bitter taste of coffee.

Companies' advertising strategies target those same teenagers, according to a study published in April.

Researchers from the University of Ottawa found posts mentioning Canadian energy drinks reached more than 351 million users across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now known as X), Reddit, Tumblr and YouTube between 2020 and 2021 — a total that still doesn't include TikTok, arguably the most popular app and influencing channel in the world.

"We know the advertising online for energy drinks is reaching millions and millions of people … they're using a lot of techniques that are very appealing to teenagers and appealing to children," said Monique Potvin Kent, an associate professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Ottawa.

The drinks also pop up on TikTok, a platform that can celebrate productivity. Content creators post videos of themselves ranking different brands, restocking drink fridges or bringing cans along for all-nighters studying in school libraries.

One influencer-backed brand, Prime, proved so popular this spring, an elementary school principal in Prince Edward Island banned them from its campus.

"I brought home one of those Prime drinks and my son goes, 'Mom! That's such-and-such's favourite drink,' '' said Jacqueline Sheppet, a high school teacher at Lord Byng Secondary School in Vancouver whose son recently graduated.

"I think the issue there is how easily kids are influenced by what they see on TikTok. That's the bigger message. It's not the caffeine in the drink, it's kids not being able to distinguish between a product and … well, they're called influencers for a reason."

The drinks are packed with caffeine, even by adult standards.