Soft drinks manufacturers and retailers have been taking action for several years to reduce sugar and calorie intake from soft drinks. Reformulation, increased availability of smaller pack sizes, investment in promoting low and no-calorie products - all these actions have helped reduce consumers’ sugar intake from soft drinks by over 16% since 2012.
In 2015 the soft drinks industry also agreed to a collective calorie reduction goal of 20% by 2020. So for soft drinks to be singled out for a tax on sugar content, in a childhood obesity plan that otherwise sets voluntary targets for sugar reduction by 2020 for other categories - which in soft drinks we are already well on the way to achieving - is very odd.
There is no evidence worldwide that tax has an impact on levels of obesity. An Oxford Economics report commissioned by BSDA shows the tax will lead to over 4,000 job losses across the UK, particularly in pubs, restaurants and smaller retailers. That’s why we’ve joined forces with other trade bodies and businesses to urge government to Face the Facts, Can the Tax. Only last month manufacturers’ organisation EEF warned recovery was under threat as business confidence had fallen in every region of England and Wales.
In the same month research by GfK showed the biggest slide in consumer confidence for more than 26 years.
Now is not the time to confront businesses and consumers with additional economic burdens.
PHE agrees tax is less effective than reformulation and smaller pack sizes. And yet the government proceeds on the basis of data from 2012, apparently at odds with its latest Defra data on sugar and soft drink consumption patterns.
The wider food and drinks industry should be clear about the implications. Last week the government said: “There are no current plans to introduce similar levies or expand this one to confectionery.” It’s worth remembering that in September 2015 the government issued the following statement: “The government has no plans to introduce a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.”
Don’t let the soft drinks tax set the precedent.
Gavin Partington is DG of the British Soft Drinks Association
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