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'Offensive and dangerous': Doctors slam Duff energy drinks

'Offensive and dangerous': Doctors slam Duff energy drinks
Duff energy drinks on sale in a Sydney supermarket. (Ninemsn)
Only months after “Duff” beer was pulled from supermarket shelves, retailers are selling energy drinks marketed with the popular The Simpsons cartoon brand.
The vice-president of the Australian Medical Association Dr Stephen Parnis told ninemsn it was unacceptable to use the well-known cartoon beer brand to market the energy drinks, which are sold through some IGA outlets and other convenience stores. 
"It seems like a fairly crude way of glamourising alcohol to children," Dr Parnis told ninemsn. "For all intents and purposes it looks like the beer, but doesn't have the word "beer" on it."
"Putting the images of so-called "Duff" beside Duff beer would be very concerning," he said.
Dr Parnis said the AMA would be investigating the product.
"The marketing of alcohol of any sort to encourage its use by children is an offensive and dangerous practice and the AMA is completely opposed to it."
"We'll be looking further into it and if appropriate taking it up with either the manufacturer or the distributors."
Duff is a fictional beer from the long-running 20th Century Fox cartoon The Simpsons. But it made an unwelcome entry into the real world this year when it was licensed to a brewer and sold through Woolworths outlets, prompting sharp criticism from health officials and its withdrawal from shelves.
A representative from 20th Century Fox Australia told ninemsn that they were not responsible for the licensing of the Duff trademark in Australia, and referred questions to licensing agency Merchantwise, who did not return requests for comment before deadline.
The Duff-branded energy drink is available from a number of convenience stores, and from some outlets of at least one major retailer.
The IGA store at Stanmore in Sydney's inner west is carrying the drink, which is manufactured under license from 20th Century Fox by the USA's Boston America Corp.
We were able to purchase Duff energy drink from an inner-city Sydney supermarket. (Ninemsn)
We were able to purchase Duff energy drink from an inner-city Sydney supermarket. (Ninemsn)
A representative for IGA parent company Metcash Australia said the product was "legitimate".
"It's not a product we have ranged nationally," the spokesperson told ninemsn. "We do have it in a couple of outlets, as well as Campbells [Cash and Carry]."
The spokesperson said the manufacturer had purchased the right to use the trademark from 20th Century Fox.
"It is in fact imported by a supplier directly from Boston America Corp who own the licenses, so I'm not 100 percent sure what the issue is," he said.
"It's a legitimate drink which is imported by half a dozen different people into Australia."
Metcash said the responsibility for the products lay with the manufacturers and wholesalers, and not the retailers.
"I'm not sure that because we're ranging something that’s legitimate means that it's necessarily our fault that it appeared in an IGA store."
Dr Parnis said those selling the drink should take a look at their priorities.
"The key issue is to understand where this has come from, why it's being marketed in this way, and whether the people selling it, be it IGA or anyone else, have really thought through the implications," he said.
"Those things need to be considered before the profit motive."
"I go back to my own childhood and remember the lolly sticks called "Fags". We would put them in our mouth and pretend we were smoking. Those things are unacceptable in this age."
He added that the sale of energy drinks to children was a concerning issue in itself.
"Energy drinks and kids are not a good mix. Children are more susceptible to the stimulant effects of energy drinks. I've seen and treated many myself. They are a common cause of phone calls to poisons centres."
"Large amounts of caffeine can cause inability to sleep, agitation, a racing heartbeat, tremor and inability to concentrate. These are the sorts of things that caffeine as a stimulant can do, and children are more susceptible to that."
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