Pressure mounting to extend sugar tax
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- Published: Thursday, 10 October 2019 07:39
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To add to the Prime Minister’s woes over Brexit, more and more pressure is being put on Boris Johnson to reverse his antipathy to the sugar tax. Latest to join in were the outgoing Chief Medical Officer, Prof Dame Sally Davies, whose report published today calls for the extension of the current tax on sugary drinks in her final report, and NHS England head, Simon Stevens, who said that the sugar tax had shown positive results.
At an NHS conference in Manchester, Mr Stevens urged the Government to take Dame Sally’s recommendations seriously. Questioned about “accusations of nanny statism at the highest levels of government”, he said: “We should be led by the evidence and the evidence is going to be set out very soon by the outgoing Chief Medical Officer and I hope her findings will be taken seriously.
He said he had supported a sugar tax precisely because it was felt that it would lead to the reformulation of the amount of added sugar in fizzy drinks, not because it would put the price up per se. “And that’s exactly what’s happened,” he claimed. “When you look at the evidence of whether or not the sugar tax has worked, the answer is: it has.”
Last month during fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference, Health Secretary, Matt Hancock broke with his boss, Boris Johnson, saying the sugar tax “has been a total triumph”, suggesting that it might in future includes other drinks such as milkshakes. He said: “These sugary drinks are not good for you and people just do not understand the negative impact they can have.”
Cricket shirts
Mr Simons also took a swipe at cricket chiefs have been criticised for encouraging children to “fill up with snacks and junk food” by allowing the logos of crisp, popcorn and salted nut brands to be emblazoned on club shirts. These will be worn by players in a new tournament, The Hundred, which the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) hopes will make the sport more appealing to “mums and kids”.
The ECB has faced criticism from health campaigners after it emerged that each team will have the logo of a snack brand on their shirts, including Hula Hoops, McCoy’s, Skips, Tyrrells, Butterkist and Popchips, as part of a sponsorship deal with the food manufacturer KP. Mr Stevens added: “Sport can be a huge force for good, encouraging young people to become more active, with clear benefits for both their physical and mental health. But at a time when poor diet is now a bigger health threat than smoking, let’s not see these benefits negated by commercial sponsorship deals that explicitly prompt our kids to fill up with snacks and junk food.”
Breakfast cereals
Last month it was also announced that online adverts for food and drinks high in fat, salt or sugar aimed at children are to be banned under new rules from advertisers. British breakfast cereals are among the least healthy in the world, with favourites from Nestlé and Kellogg’s having more sugar than their equivalents in other nations, according to a study.
The Committee on Advertising Practice (CAP) said its restrictions would also apply to all other media where under-16s made up a quarter of the audience. Promotions, licensed characters and celebrities popular with children will be allowed for healthy food and drink products only. The advertisers’ body said the move would lead to "a major reduction" in the number of "junk food" ads seen by children on platforms such as YouTube and children’s games websites.
Link to Dame Sally's report:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/time-to-solve-childhood-obesity-cmo-special-report
But there did seem a few veiled criticisms of the political machine thrown in as well.
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