A recent mystery shopping monitoring study in Slovenia has revealed concerning levels of accessibility of alcohol and tobacco products to minors. At the end of February, the findings from the Health in all Policy (WP9) subtask on mystery shopping were presented at a press conference addressing youth protection and compliance with age-restriction legislation.
The results demonstrated that 70% of underage mystery shoppers were able to purchase alcohol in physical stores, nearly 90% successfully purchased alcohol through online retailers, and more than 40% managed to purchase tobacco or nicotine products. Another concerning fact is that the selling points were frequently located in the vicinity of schools.
Protecting young people from early exposure to harmful substances thus remains a critical public health priority. As early exposure to alcohol and nicotine significantly increases the risk of addiction, long-term health consequences, and the development of non-communicable diseases, these findings underline the urgent need for stronger enforcement of existing legislation and coordinated prevention efforts.