UK slaps sugar tax on milkshakes in battle against child obesity and dental decay

The British Government today extended a sugar tax, introduced in 2018, to include milkshakes as part of the fight against obesity and tooth decay in children. Photo / 123RF

The British government today extended a sugar tax to include milkshakes as part of the fight against obesity and tooth decay in children.

The levy will affect pre-packaged milkshakes, ready-to-go coffees and sweetened yoghurt drinks, but not ones made in cafes and restaurants, it said.

The announcement by the Labour Government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer follows a call by the World Health Organisation in 2023 for countries to increase their taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages.

Health Minister Wes Streeting told lawmakers that “obesity robs children of the best possible start in life, hits the poorest hardest, sets them up for a lifetime of health problems”.

He said it cost the state-funded National Health Service “billions” of pounds each year.

Latest official figures suggest that one in 10 children in England is obese when they go to primary school at the age of 4 or 5.

The figure rises to 22% by the time they reach the age of 10 or 11, according to the National Child Measurement Programme.

Under the new measures, milk-based drinks will no longer be exempt from the existing sugar tax and it will apply to more drinks.

To avoid the tax, sugary drinks will have to contain less than 4.5 grams of sugar per 100 millilitres, instead of five grams at present.

Drinks containing 4.5-7.9 grams will incur a levy of 19.4 pence (US25 cents) per litre, rising to 25 pence above eight grams.

Campaigners welcomed a “positive step”, but they had hoped to see a reduction to four grams and said the measures did not go far enough.

Kawther Hashem, head of research and impact at Action on Salt and Sugar, said nearly three-quarters of drinks already fall below four grams per 100 millilitres, so the decision missed “an opportunity to drive further meaningful reformulation”.

Britain is also grappling with a growing child dental health problem with up to six in 10 children in some deprived areas having rotting teeth by the age of 5.

Tooth decay is currently the leading cause of hospital admissions for children aged between 5 and 9 in England, official statistics said.

The UK’s existing sugar tax was rolled out in 2018 following an announcement in 2016.

Firms will have until January 1, 2028, to remove the sugar or face the new charge.

-Agence France-Presse