One Sydney school has even taken the extraordinary step of hiring a dietician to talk to parents, and experts have slammed the makers of Golden Circle LOL No Bad Stuff for preying on children.
Teachers became alarmed after spotting students as young as six drinking the carbonated fruit juice for breakfast. Bankstown Grammar School is so concerned about the effects on children that it’s calling on parents to stop allowing the drink in lunch boxes.
The private school has already banned Coke and Mars bars, but still finds the sugary sweets creeping into students’ bags. “We could try banning it (LOL), but we’ve tried before on other products and kids still end up bringing them in,” said principal, Terry Lidgard. “I would rather educate the students … like harm minimisation.”
Manufactured by fruit juice company Golden Circle, the cans of drink contain 26g of sugar. Emblazoned with large, smiley faces and colourful labelling, the drinks have come under fire for looking like caffeine energy drinks such as Red Bull and V.
Dietician Susie Burrell from The Children’s Hospital at Westmead criticised Golden Circle for preying on kids: “They have a big enough market. They don’t have to target children like this. It’s marketed in a way that makes it look healthy,” she said.
US research advises that kids shouldn’t consume more than two sweetened drinks a week: “Fruit juice contains sugar and this is highly concentrated,” said Burrell. “It’s bad for teeth. It contains no other nutritional value. Parents should be giving their children flavoured milk or water.”
Golden Circle was contacted but didn’t respond.
Source: The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
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