Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver who has campaigned for healthier food for children said Wednesday that Britain's new sugar tax on soda drinks will send ripples around the world.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne sprung a surprise announcement during his budget speech in the House of Commons that he is to introduce a sugar tax to help tackle obesity in children. The move came as a shock even to his own government ministers and the drinks industry in Britain was completely taken aback.
Oliver, who made a name for himself on British television with his 'Naked Chef' cookery show told his thousands of followers on social media about his delight at Osborne's announcement. "We did it guys !!we did it !!! A sugar levy on sugary sweetened drinks. A profound move that will ripple around the world .... business cannot come between our Kids health !! Our kids health comes first ..... Bold, brave , logical and supported by all the right people .... now bring on the whole strategy soon to come ... Amazing news," he wrote.
Osborne told MPs the tax will be levied on the volume of the sugar contained in sweetened drinks that companies produce or import. It later emerged that the sugar levy could add as much as 80 percent on, for example, a two-liter bottle of own-brand cola.
Osborne plans two bands of levy, one band for a total sugar content above five grams per 100 milliliters and a second band for drinks with more than eight grams per 100 milliliters. It is thought the most popular soda drinks fall within the upper band. Last night Public Health England also welcomed the sugar tax.
Duncan Selbie, chief executive of PHE, said: "A sugary drinks levy is fabulous news for children and families in helping them to cut back on sugar. This will reduce the risks of obesity, tooth decay and other life threatening diseases. This is public health in action and a great foundation ahead of the child obesity strategy later this summer.
"A levy or tax was 1 of 8 recommendations from PHE's evidence review on sugar reduction and is a stunning early indication of the Government's commitment to reducing child obesity. The chancellor has firmly set this in the context of every child having the right to a good start to life, especially good that the money raised will be used to boost funding for school based exercise and sport." Osborne said in his speech that five-year-old children in Britain are consuming their body weight in sugar every year.
"Experts predict that within a generation over half of all boys, and 70 percent of girls could be overweight or obese. Obesity drives disease, it increases the risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease - and it costs our economy 27 billion pounds a year; that's more than half the entire NHS pay bill.
"One of the biggest contributors to childhood obesity is sugary drinks. A can of cola typically has nine teaspoons of sugar in it. Some popular drinks have as many as 13. That can be more than double a child's recommended added sugar intake.
"So today I can announce that we will introduce a new sugar levy on the soft drinks industry.It will be levied on the companies. It will be introduced in two years' time to give companies plenty of space to change their product mix." Osborne said pure fruit juices and milk-based drinks will be excluded, but added the levy will raise an estimated 520 million pounds (742 million U.S. dollars) a year, and will be used to fund sports activities in primary schools.
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