Call for tax on sugary drinks
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- Published: Friday, 09 January 2015 08:02
- Written by News Editor
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The Children's Food Campaign has published figures showing that the introduction of a 20 pence per litre duty on sugary drinks would benefit Londoners' health, as well as save the NHS in London £39 million over twenty years. However another report says that Britain ‘is falling out of love with fruit juice’, according to a report which found that sales fell after campaigns about their high sugar content.
The research, published in association with University of Liverpool academic Brendan Collins and FoodActive, shows that if the UK government introduced a 20 pence per litre sugary drinks duty, then the impact in London over twenty years would be to:
- reduce the cases of diabetes by over 6,300
- prevent over 1,100 cases of cancer
- reduce strokes and cases of coronary heart disease by over 4,300
- improve the quality of life for thousands of residents
The Children's Food Campaign proposes that any revenue generated would be used to set-up a Children's Health Fund, paying for programmes to improve children's health and protect the environment they grow up in.
The Campaign is supported by the British Dental Health Foundation (BDHF) who say that the duty would help to reduce levels of tooth decay seen in children age 3-12, particularly as soft drinks are the largest single source of sugar for children aged 4-10 years and teenagers.
Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter OBE, said: "Drinks packed with sugar have long been problematic to oral health. As a charity dedicated to improving oral health we have supported a number of policies designed to curb sugary drinks consumption, and the figures released by the Children's Food Campaign highlights the need for such a tax.
“The fact that London alone could save £39 million is staggering. If this could be replicated across the country, the savings could be substantial. The money wasted on treating children with tooth decay could be reinvested into preventive educational materials to reduce on of the biggest problems sugary drinks cause - tooth decay. One in four children starting school have tooth decay, and around one in three 12 year-olds have visible dental decay. These figures support the need for health bodies and professionals across the country to work together in safeguarding the general and oral health of children and promoting the value of prevention.”
However another report shows that Britain ‘is falling out of love with fruit juice’, according to a report which found that sales fell after campaigns about their high sugar content. Pure juices, squashes and smoothies suffered their largest fall in sales since 2010, according to the market analysts Mintel. They found that the market for all juice drinks fell by 3 per cent to £4.5 billion this year and that volume sales fell by 5 per cent to 1.8 billion litres.
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