British Government to Introduce Sugar Tax on Soft Drinks
The UK Government is to introduce a tax on soft drinks to pay for a doubling of the dedicated funding for sport in primary schools. British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has announced that soft drinks companies will pay a levy on drinks with added sugar from April 2018. This will apply to drinks with total sugar content above 5 grams per 100 millilitres, with a higher rate for more than 8 grams per 100 millilitres. This will not need to be paid on milk-based drinks or fruit juices.
The levy will be used to double the primary PE and sport premium (the additional money schools have to spend on PE and sports) to £320 million a year.
Gavin Partington, Director General of the British Soft Drinks Association comments: “We are extremely disappointed by the Government’s decision to hit the only category in the food and drink sector which has consistently reduced sugar intake in recent years – down 13.6% since 2012. We are the only category with an ambitious plan for the years ahead – in 2015 we agreed a calorie reduction goal of 20% by 2020. By contrast sugar and calorie intake from all other major take home food categories is increasing – which makes the targeting of soft drinks simply absurd.”
