Exclusive: Co-author of analysis for WHO calls on government to control the food industry rather than being subservient to it

The sugar tax has been so successful in improving people’s diets that it should be extended to cakes, biscuits and chocolate, health experts say.

The World Health Organization wants the next UK government to expand coverage of the levy to help tackle tooth decay, obesity, diabetes and other illnesses.

The plea is published in the WHO’s bulletin, which urges governments worldwide to use the reformulation of food to address the growing crisis of excess weight.

Experts from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have analysed the outcomes of two flagship government policies intended to make food healthier – the sugar tax and sugar reduction programme, which were introduced in 2018 and 2015 respectively.

The levy on the soft-drinks industry led to a 34.3% fall in total sugar sales from such products between 2015 and 2020 and many fizzy drinks containing much less.

But the sugar reduction programme only yielded a 3.5% drop over the same period in the amount of sugar used in the manufacture of the everyday foodstuffs it covered, the experts write in their analysis for the WHO.

Dr Kawther Hashem, a co-author and lecturer in public health nutrition at QMUL, said ministers should trial a sugar tax-style levy on treat foods that still have almost as much sugar as they did as 2015 despite firms being asked to cut sugar by 20% before 2020.

  • @[email protected]English
    6•6 months ago

    The point is they reduced the sugar in coke semi secretly, they can still buy a coke it just doesn’t stop going into diabetic coma. And you find out when you’re on the way to hospital.

    • @[email protected]English
      5•6 months ago

      Exactly rhis. We are all used to it now. But that first summer was real hot. And many got seriously in danger. Folks forget death can really happen in these situations.

      But there is a much bigger worry if this new idea is sctually implemented the same way.

      Currently we have options as fruit juice dosent follow these tule. A d still has loads of added sugar. Although some village store do not stock it. In genral we can find somthing that will work.

      If companies act the same way with evrtything cakes sweets juices etc.

      Buying a packet of sugar really is not an option in many small villages.