Energy drinks with dangerously high levels of caffeine are being sold to children because of a loophole in Australian law, the NSW Government says.

Five year 7 students from Quakers Hill, in Sydney's west, reportedly suffered side effects including dizziness and nausea after consuming the drinks on their way to school yesterday.

Should they be banned? ... energy drinks. Credit:Angus Scott

Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said today it was stories such as this that had prompted the Government to look at how it could go about taking the drinks off the shelves.

"Some of these shots have between 12 and 15 times the level of caffeine permitted under the food standards code," he told Fairfax Radio Network.