Fantastic news for health campaigners
In a fantastic news for health campaigners, the UK’s first ever sugar tax comes into force today. This means that soft drinks manufacturers will now have to pay an extra levy on drinks that contain a high amount of sugar.
This move — first announced by former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in the budget of April 2016 — is expected to earn the treasury an extra £240m.
The tax consists of two categories: The first is a tax on the total sugar content of drinks with more than 5g of sugar per 100ml, and the second, a higher tax on those drinks with 8g or more sugar per 100ml, according to the Evening Standard.
The Treasury has said that over half of manufacturers reduced the sugar content in their drinks since 2016. Like Tesco “has been one of the most successful,” as it brought 85 per cent of its own-brand soft drinks below the 5g level, according to The Guardian.
But soft drink giants such as Coca Cola, Pepsico and Red Bull will instead hike the price of their cans by around 8p, as they plan to stick to their original recipes, according to media reports.
Other nations who have be adopted this strategy are Mexico, France and Norway.
Norway has raised its sugar tax to 83% – only 1 in 6 children in Norway are overweight pic.twitter.com/iUEq5h93MU
— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) April 1, 2018
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