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Popsicles laced with alcohol can now legally be sold to children in Denmark

TheCopenhagenPost
June 14th, 2016


This article is more than 8 years old.

Yes, you read that right

Some think N1ce is not so nice for kids (photo: N1ce.com)

The push-up popsicle ‘N1ce’ which contains five percent alcohol and comes in flavours like mojito, margarita and daiquiri is now legal in Denmark.

The frozen treat was launched in Sweden last year and some 1.5 million have been sold thus far.

“N1ce is now available in a few Danish shops, Bakken and at several summer festivals,” founder Mikael Drane, who has launched the product with the Swedish DJ-duo Axwell & Ingrosso, told Metroxpress.

“They are covered by an EU rule that allows shops to legally sell products with up to five percent alcohol to children, but we are asking Danes to follow the country’s 16-year-old rule.”

Over the line
An ice cream called ‘Vodka-Goblin’ that combined red soda and alcohol was pulled from the shelves 13 years ago.

The alcohol abuse prevention group Alcohol og Samfund believes N1ce should be yanked as well.

“It is a bad idea,” said the group’s chairperson Anette Søgaard. “Popsicles are something that usually only children eat, and how can they distinguish what contains alcohol and what does not. It is irresponsible.”

READ MORE: Government to help young victims of alcohol and drug abuse

Socialdemokraterne consumer spokesperson Karin Gaardsted thinks N1ce comes too close to crossing the line.

“It is at the limit of what you can do within the law,” she said. “We need to protect children from this kind of thing.”

Coop opting out
Coop supermarkets will not be selling N1ce.

“We will in principle not sell things with alcohol that could be confused with candy to children,” said Jens Juul Nielsen, information head at Coop.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”