Ridiculous things shops do

[Bletchleyite]

To introduce a ban on selling other high caffeine content products to Under 16s, including Tea and Coffee.

There was a consultation on this but I'd be amazed if it went through, as banning under 16s from having tea and coffee is plainly ridiculous. Tea and coffee are not causing issues in young people as (other than a few Starbucks drinks that kids won't be buying as they're nearly a fiver a pop) they aren't full of sugar and other stuff like additives and guarana unlike energy drinks.

 

[DelayRepay]

To introduce a ban on selling other high caffeine content products to Under 16s, including Tea and Coffee.

What?? It will be against the law to sell a 15 year old a cup of tea??

 

[Bletchleyite]

What?? It will be against the law to sell a 15 year old a cup of tea??

Their consultation put forward the idea that all caffeinated beverages should be included, worded very much as a "what if". It's very unlikely that would go forward to legislation as it's plainly silly.

On the other hand some people are strongly against kids getting any caffeine - I have had it genuinely put to me that letting Scouts have a cup of tea or coffee on camp was a Safeguarding issue, which I just replied to by saying "if you don't want that put it on the health form, but most people don't even remotely agree with you". (In the evenings they got decaf anyway so it wouldn't keep them awake )

 

[Bikeman78]

It applies throughout Great Britain, but I understand has been postponed for a year due to the Cost of Living Crisis.

Stage 1 is banning the prominent placement of the High Fat, Sugar, Salt items, such as on store promotion ends/at checkouts etc

Stage 2 is banning promotions and discounts on the restricted items, such as Buy One, Get One Free or discounts with store loyalty cards.

Details can be found on the Government Website.

There will be separate legislation for each of Scotland, Wales and England.

Indeed, the Welsh Government proposes more restrictive legislation than England in fact.

In Wales is proposed to go further by applying the restrictions to ALL shops, not just large supermarkets.

To introduce a ban on selling energy drinks to Under 16s, as applies in Scotland already.

To introduce a ban on selling other high caffeine content products to Under 16s, including Tea and Coffee.

Thanks to all for your replies. This one made burst out laughing. Banning tea? My daughter has been drinking tea since she could talk. Hasn't done her any harm. It certainly doesn't stop her sleeping. Never had any problem getting her to settle down at bed time. I've probably drunk tea from a similar age. I can't remember a time when I didn't drink it.

It does seem that the government wants to strip out any joy from our lives. If people want to eat salt/sugar/fat, why stop them? I probably eat far too much sugar, but I exercise a lot and hardly ever get ill so it doesn't appear to be doing much damage.

 

[DelayRepay]

On the other hand some people are strongly against kids getting any caffeine - I have had it genuinely put to me that letting Scouts have a cup of tea or coffee on camp was a Safeguarding issue, which I just replied to by saying "if you don't want that put it on the health form, but most people don't even remotely agree with you". (In the evenings they got decaf anyway so it wouldn't keep them awake )

Of all the risks that you have to think about and manage when you take a bunch of teenagers away on a camping trip, I'd suggest drinking a cup of tea is the least of your worries!

 

[Pinza-C55]

What will that achieve? My kids will find the aisle with the sweets however many times the store moves it around. No doubt lots of people have been paid lots of money to come up with nonsense like this. Anyway, my local Sainsburys hasn't changed the layout recently. Does this new legislation not apply in Wales?

It will not achieve anything but like many things nowadays it is virtue signalling writ large. Just like stopping the sale of menthol cigarettes because they "appeal to young people", putting all cigarettes in black packets so they look "less visually appealing to young people" and concealing them behind a huge metal shutter.
Whenever you think things have gotten as crazy as they can, our nanny government says "hold my beer".

 

[jon0844]

It will not achieve anything but like many things nowadays it is virtue signalling writ large. Just like stopping the sale of menthol cigarettes because they "appeal to young people", putting all cigarettes in black packets so they look "less visually appealing to young people" and concealing them behind a huge metal shutter.
Whenever you think things have gotten as crazy as they can, our nanny government says "hold my beer".

Considering an awful lot of young people don't smoke now (albeit many vape instead) I think it's probably a good thing.

The jury is out on how safe vaping is, but at least it seems cigarettes will continue to fall in popularity as the older generation die out.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Considering an awful lot of young people don't smoke now (albeit many vape instead) I think it's probably a good thing.

Judging by the smell, a lot of young people may no longer smoke tobacco but they do smoke cannabis, and plenty of it. Which is very likely a result of making it so hard to get hold of tobacco.

What?? It will be against the law to sell a 15 year old a cup of tea??

Depends how much caffeine is in it.

Clearly it's targeted at energy drinks, but the biggest coffees at Starbucks or Costa will usually have 4 or more shots of espresso in them.

 

[najaB]

Judging by the smell, a lot of young people may no longer smoke tobacco but they do smoke cannabis, and plenty of it. Which is very likely a result of making it so hard to get hold of tobacco.

Very few, if any, people will smoke cannabis just because they can't get tobacco. That's a pretty ridiculous idea, honestly.

 

[DelayRepay]

Very few, if any, people will smoke cannabis just because they can't get tobacco. That's a pretty ridiculous idea, honestly.

Indeed. Don't most cannabis smokers actually mix it with tobacco (I ask, innocently!)

 

[Peter Sarf]

...........

Do you not mean your son? If she is your partner then you must have assisted in conceiving him. Hope I am not causing any offence but most would refer to their offsping as “my son”

....................

Not mine your honour.

At risk of going way off topic, I would take it to mean 'step-son', biologically related to the partner but not the poster.

Correct.

Child from a previous relationship perhaps?

Correct.

Step-son is only technically correct when you are married to the parent of the child concerned, if you're not married there isn't really a specific word or phrase to use other than words to the effect of 'my partner's son'. In much the same way I don't refer to my partner's mum as my mother in law as that would only be the correct phrase if we were married.

Interesting point. So technically not even step sons (3 off).

That depends entirely on age and the relationship with the biological father. If I was to start a relationship with a woman who had a baby then I might well come to see them as my son/daughter as I raised them. If, however, the child was already a tweenager/teenager then, while I would love them, I wouldn't call them my child - particularly if they still had a relationship with their father as I wouldn't want to try to usurp it.

Good point. As a matter of fact my step sons daughter and me are VERY close. I looked after her from birth to about 4 years so makes sense. I considered myself completely the father of my step sons (teenagers onwards) and we are quite close (possibly not the eldest). That was until I realised the difference with my (step) granddaughter. She even likes trains and likes wandering round London with me (over 60 + under 11 Oyster). Further more she is learning how to use the shops from me. Really shops around and has spotted some things I do not - three similar cakes in different parts of Morrisons - must be targeting her differently but she did not fall for it.

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What will that achieve? My kids will find the aisle with the sweets however many times the store moves it around. No doubt lots of people have been paid lots of money to come up with nonsense like this. Anyway, my local Sainsburys hasn't changed the layout recently. Does this new legislation not apply in Wales?

I think it will help make these things less attractive. Certainly will help where you can walk past the temptation whereas currently you have to stand there in a queue right next to the stuff.

It is another example of government meddling in our lives. I am all for the government providing advice about how to have a healthy diet. But having provided that advice, they should not make it more difficult for me to purchase a bar of chocolate if that's what I want to do.

If everyone has to pay for the consequences of some peoples unhealthy life style then the temptation will always be there to try and reduce the demand for healthcare by trying to prevent the cause.

Their consultation put forward the idea that all caffeinated beverages should be included, worded very much as a "what if". It's very unlikely that would go forward to legislation as it's plainly silly.

On the other hand some people are strongly against kids getting any caffeine - I have had it genuinely put to me that letting Scouts have a cup of tea or coffee on camp was a Safeguarding issue, which I just replied to by saying "if you don't want that put it on the health form, but most people don't even remotely agree with you". (In the evenings they got decaf anyway so it wouldn't keep them awake )

Whaat, you interfered with their drinks by stealing the caffeine .

Of all the risks that you have to think about and manage when you take a bunch of teenagers away on a camping trip, I'd suggest drinking a cup of tea is the least of your worries!

I mean really they should be kept at home .

Judging by the smell, a lot of young people may no longer smoke tobacco but they do smoke cannabis, and plenty of it. Which is very likely a result of making it so hard to get hold of tobacco.


Depends how much caffeine is in it.

Clearly it's targeted at energy drinks, but the biggest coffees at Starbucks or Costa will usually have 4 or more shots of espresso in them.

I think the cannabis has to be mixed with a lot of tobacco so there is no avoiding the need for tobacco.

 

[Pinza-C55]

Considering an awful lot of young people don't smoke now (albeit many vape instead) I think it's probably a good thing.

The jury is out on how safe vaping is, but at least it seems cigarettes will continue to fall in popularity as the older generation die out.

I vape and I like smoking but with 20 costing £10.50 it has been priced out. I think it shows a certain contempt for us that they treat us like an experiment in social engineering.

 

[adc82140]

Yes, 'Best Before' is simply guidance but items marked 'Use By' cannot be sold after the 'Use By' date.

I do a lot of my shopping at a past best before date warehouse. It's really cheap. Currently eating a Fry's Raspberry Creme that's 6 months out of date. Nothing wrong with it.

 

[hexagon789]

I do a lot of my shopping at a past best before date warehouse. It's really cheap. Currently eating a Fry's Raspberry Creme that's 6 months out of date. Nothing wrong with it.

Quite, and equally the same applies - though less significantly - with 'Use By' dates. There is a margin of usually a further 2 or 3 days with those.

 

[PG]

I do a lot of my shopping at a past best before date warehouse. It's really cheap. Currently eating a Fry's Raspberry Creme that's 6 months out of date. Nothing wrong with it.

I'm surprised we haven't seen a government minister extolling this as a way of getting us mere phlebs through the cost of living crisis

 

[pdeaves]

Currently eating a Fry's Raspberry Creme that's 6 months out of date. Nothing wrong with it.

I'm surprised we haven't seen a government minister extolling this as a way of getting us mere phlebs through the cost of living crisis

Well, raspberry is probably one of your five-a-day...

 

[najaB]

I'm surprised we haven't seen a government minister extolling this as a way of getting us mere phlebs through the cost of living crisis

I honestly thought we had.

Checked. It was actually just a suggestion to buy own-branded items rather than brand name:

Consumers could help themselves cope with rising food prices by choosing value brands in the supermarket, the environment secretary has suggested.

George Eustice told Sky News that rising fertiliser and feed costs had hit the farming industry, partly as a result of soaring energy prices.

He said: “The better news is that we have a very, very competitive retail market with ten big supermarkets and the four main ones competing very aggressively, particularly on some of the lower-cost, everyday value items for households, so things like spaghetti and ambient products – there’s a lot of competition to keep those prices down.

“Where it gets harder is on things like chicken and poultry, and some fresh produce, where those increased feed costs do end up getting passed through the system because these people work on wafer-thin margins and they have to pass that cost through.”

Eustice added: “Generally speaking, what people find is by going for some of the value brands rather than own-branded products – they can actually contain and manage their household budget.

Minister suggests shoppers buy value brands 'to cope with rising costs'

The environment secretary said switching from own brand products could help Brits manage their budgets.

news.stv.tv

 

[johntea]

Morrisons are now putting up big vaping retail displays by the checkout rather then behind the counter it seems (not any different from the likes of B&M just having a vaping section in their store but still took me slightly by surprise!)

As a vaper myself (albeit with a 'proper' kit) the new non stop craze seems to be the so called 'disposable' vapes which aren't really that disposable at all unless you manually take them apart and recycle every component individually including that lithium battery...but of course they've become another 'just chuck them on the pavement when they're dead and someone else will take care of it' annoyance

Even Argos are selling them now!

 

[py_megapixel]

I vape and I like smoking but with 20 costing £10.50 it has been priced out. I think it shows a certain contempt for us that they treat us like an experiment in social engineering.

I'm not sure what you mean by "treating us like an experiment in social engineering". Smoking is a public health concern and also the tobacco industry does enormous damage globally. I see no reason why it shouldn't be taxed to compensate for this.

It would be interesting to see if NHS "stop smoking" services have seen more users amid the cost of living crisis.

As a vaper myself (albeit with a 'proper' kit) the new non stop craze seems to be the so called 'disposable' vapes which aren't really that disposable at all unless you manually take them apart and recycle every component individually including that lithium battery...but of course they've become another 'just chuck them on the pavement when they're dead and someone else will take care of it' annoyance

Frankly someone has got to step in and do something about these being sold so widely and made attractive to children. The number of new nicotine addicts this is creating must be staggering...

 

[Tetchytyke]

As a vaper myself (albeit with a 'proper' kit) the new non stop craze seems to be the so called 'disposable' vapes which aren't really that disposable at all unless you manually take them apart and recycle every component individually including that lithium battery

All this talk of recycling and climate change, and crap like that gets developed. It annoys me even more than the chemical cloud of "raspberry" around my office building's front door.

 

[najaB]

All this talk of recycling and climate change, and crap like that gets developed.

People can develop whatever they want, but we really shouldn't allow them to be imported and sold here.

 

[High Dyke]

Hopefully, Sainsbury's are trying to improve, but my bugbear is putting large vegetable items (eg, swede) in plastic wrap. Other stores don't!

 

[gg1]

I do a lot of my shopping at a past best before date warehouse. It's really cheap. Currently eating a Fry's Raspberry Creme that's 6 months out of date. Nothing wrong with it.

My record is an 11 year old jar of jam, 10 years past it's best before date. The sugar in the jam had started to crystallise but it tasted fine apart from that.

 

[al78]

If everyone has to pay for the consequences of some peoples unhealthy life style then the temptation will always be there to try and reduce the demand for healthcare by trying to prevent the cause.

Yes, the pandemic has highlighted the dreadful state of health of the UK population in general and the resultant strain on the NHS, and much of that is due to poor lifestyle choices. In a country where we expect the government to pay for the bulk of healthcare, it is difficult to try and claim the government shouldn't try to reduce its costs by incentivising people to live healthier lives. It is unfortunate that the most vocal advocates of personal freedom seem to completely ignore externalised costs when exercising that freedom.

 

[najaB]

It is unfortunate that the most vocal advocates of personal freedom seem to completely ignore externalised costs when exercising that freedom.

It's also worth keeping in mind that the government isn't proposing outright bans on specific food or drink, or even consumption of tobacco containing products. People who want to eat unhealthily or who want to damage their health through smoking will still be able to, all the changes like moving high calorie items away from the checkouts, plain cigarette packaging or higher alcohol pricing are intended to do is to try and ensure that it is a conscious decision rather than a default action.

If the crisps are right by the checkout I can pick them up without thinking about it whereas if I have to go looking for them then I probably won't. Or kids can pick them up and it's easier to just let them have the snack rather than telling them off in front of everyone.

 

[Thirteen]

I get restricting energy drinks for under 16s because the caffeine levels in those are very high but not tea and coffee.

In regard to Vapes, I honestly think we'll probably see places start to crack down on indoor vaping with higher fines and basically being treated like smoking.

 

[najaB]

In regard to Vapes, I honestly think we'll probably see places start to crack down on indoor vaping with higher fines and basically being treated like smoking.

Maybe the law is different in Scotland vs the rest of the UK but I'm yet to see anywhere that allows vaping indoors.

 

[hexagon789]

Maybe the law is different in Scotland vs the rest of the UK but I'm yet to see anywhere that allows vaping indoors.

I think it's rather as it was for smoking before the outright ban in 2005, it isn't technically illegal to vape indoors but businesses can of course choose not to permit it.

Most perhaps do because it's easier than making a distinction between vaping and smoking as much for any health or comfort reasons.

 

[Herefordian]

Selling mince pies which go out of date several weeks before Christmas.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I get restricting energy drinks for under 16s because the caffeine levels in those are very high but not tea and coffee.

A medium Costa cappuccino has 300mg of caffeine in it (3 shots of espresso).

A 500ml bottle of Monster Energy has 160mg of caffeine in it.