The ruling has left fizzy drinks makers feeling a little hard done by, and perhaps rightly so as they are certainly not the only contributors to Britain’s sugar overload. Many non-fizzy soft drinks also include more than the 8g of sugar per 100ml required to qualify for the high level of tax, including Innocent smoothies and Tropicana fruit juice; drinks that many consider healthy.
But from a healthcare point of view, it’s arguably a step in the right direction. A new study from Imperial College London says the UK is on the brink of becoming the fattest nation in Europe. By 2025, four in 10 people in the UK will be dangerously overweight. A major driver of this trend is sugar, and bans can work. In 2014, Mexico introduced a tax on sugary drinks, which resulted in a 12 per cent drop in sales of these products.
Official recommendations suggest that people should not consume more than seven teaspoons of sugar a day. Therefore by drinking just one can of Old Jamaica Ginger Beer an individual will consume nearly double their recommended daily sugar intake.
