Sugar tax

OH has recently stopped putting sugar in drinks, it's surprising how nice tea and coffee tastes without it but it takes a bit of resolve to do it. There's so much hidden sugar not just in sweetened drinks but in ready meals like pies, pasties and curry etc and then there's alcohol. We're addicted to the stuff! (Biscuits are my downfall.)

It is not a sugar tax it is a tax on soft drinks only 

Sweets are not going to be taxed and some of them are 90-95%sugar  sugary milk shakes/coffee not taxed and what about a 2lb bag of sugar no tax

OH has recently stopped putting sugar in drinks, it's surprising how nice tea and coffee tastes without it but it takes a bit of resolve to do it. There's so much hidden sugar not just in sweetened drinks but in ready meals like pies, pasties and curry etc and then there's alcohol. We're addicted to the stuff! (Biscuits are my downfall.)

And what about cereals? 

I agree that I'd prefer a small amount of sugar to chemical sweeteners but we aren't talking about small amounts of sugar in these drinks. There's 7 teaspoons of sugar in 330ml of Coke, I can't dissolve that much sugar in plain water. 

Smoothies have the same amount in 250ml. It's still sugar even if it comes from fruit. 

Theres a Starbucks coffee on sale with the equivalent amount of sugar as two cans of Coke. 14 Teaspoons!!!!

There's added sugar in so many foods and then extra salt is added to balance the flavour. I don't want rising amounts of hidden sugar and any initiative to halt it is fine by me. 

If they don't make it then we can't buy it 

The purpose of taxing anything is to raise money - there is no other reason despite what politicians say.  If something is bad for us the manufacturers should be told to make it healthier or they won't be allowed to sell it.  Taxing sugary drinks like taxing tobacco, alcohol and fuel will only deter the poorest, others will simply pay the money.  Any reduction will be minimal.  If taxing products really worked we'd all be none smoking teetotallers who walked everywhere - wouldn't we?  

Surely, if parents had a real interest in their kid's health, they wouldn't buy all these sugary products (or allow their children to buy them)......would they?

Do we have a parent on here who does allow these purchases? Could they explain why they don't care about their kid's health?

I have a fifteen year old grandson, who buys food and probably fizzy drinks, mostly plain fizzy water (tap water would be better) but it's difficult to stand over a six footer!  I think the message is getting through to some of them.

Sorry Ian - I can't help there. I never bought sugary drinks and my children don't buy them now. I don't have any friends who buy high sugar drinks either. 

I don't think some people know just how much sugar is in these  drinks. There's also a real fear of sweeteners  I remember when I was a kid that Ribena was advertised as having 'health benefits' with all the vitamin C but it's one of the higher sugar content drinks around. 

Marketing, advertising, poor understanding of food labelling, misplaced belief in the fact that fruit sugars somehow don't count all have a part to play. I also think that the emphasis on fat in the diet has let high sugar slide through unheeded. How many people say 'full fat Coke'?

Look who has sponsored some of the recent dietary research too. 

Sugar isn't evil but many people eat far too much without realising it and something needs to be done. 

we all need to balance 'fuel in' against 'fuel burned'...

some with hard manual jobs (or those that take plenty of exercise) burn plenty of calories, so need a healthy intake of energy...

however, there are very many who lead sedentary lifestyles, using the car for the shortest of trips, with some almost never using their own steam...

once folk get 'out of the habit' of walking or cycling when taking a short trip (morning paper, pint of milk etc), then not reducing fuel intake to compensate for the lower level of energy used will only result in one thing....larger clothes

if kids still played as much sport as past generations and walked to school instead of being dropped off by car, then perhaps fewer would require the 'help' being 'budgetted' for...

Exercise will assist to some extent in countering obesity. Won't help much with tooth decay. Limited impact in relation to insulin resistance as well 

It's just best not to consume too much sugar