Taxing cakes and biscuits is the answer to Britain’s sugar problem

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The drinks levy is working but England’s sugar consumption has still gone up. So what next?

The UK is eating far too much sugar and the efforts of Public Health England to cajole the food industry into cutting down for the sake of our health are having very little effect. The latest PHE report shows another tiny reduction in the sugar content of our favourite packaged foods of 2.9%, following 2% last year. The chances of hitting the 2020 target of a total of 20% are vanishingly small.

If you look at the actual amount of sugar we bought and probably ate last year (probably ate, because we waste food too), it’s gone up by 2.6%. We binged on lollies and ice-creams because of the hot summer – 16.3% more sugar was sold for ice-cream, lollies and sorbets, 10.4% for chocolate confectionery, 6.4% for sweet spreads and sauces, 4.9% for sweet confectionery and 3.1% for biscuits.

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This post was syndicated from Health | The Guardian. Click here to read the full text on the original website.


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