The sale of popular drinks containing taurine and caffeine, commonly referred to as "energy drinks", has been limited from 1 January 2024 in accordance with provisions introduced in the Act of 17 August 2023 amending the Public Health Act and certain other acts (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 1718).
The prohibition of their sale to minors has been incorporated into Polish law and they cannot be sold in schools and other educational institutions such as kindergartens or school libraries or through vending machines.
The Act defines "beverage with added caffeine or taurine" as "a drink which is a food, included in the Polish Classification of Products and Services, which contains caffeine in a proportion exceeding 150 mg/l or taurine, excluding substances naturally occurring in them".
Under the Act, producers or importers of drinks with added caffeine or taurine are obliged to mark the unit packaging of the product with visible, legible and indelibly and permanently placed information indicating "Energy drink" or "Energising drink".
Failure to comply with the Act, i.e. selling drinks with added taurine or caffeine in an unauthorised place, may incur a fine of up to PLN 2,000. The fine for producing or importing inappropriately labelled drinks is up to PLN 200,000.
By Paulina Wozniak-Klimek, Attorney at Law, Schoenherr
