Industry Rejects Soft Drinks Tax Proposal

12 Mar 2015 --- The British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) has rejected the idea that a tax on soft drinks would lead to a reduction in ill-health among consumers.

Speaking in response to the UK Children’s Food Campaign appeal to a support a 20p/litre tax on sugary soft drinks, Gavin Partington, BSDA Director General, said: “This is a flawed model, based on misleading figures created by campaigners in support of their cause.

“The overwhelming evidence suggests that ill-health is linked to a range of factors including lifestyle, levels of exercise and overall diet.

“A tax on soft drinks would adversely impact the poorest in society while doing nothing to curb obesity.”

Campaigners, however, disagree. The Children’s Food Campaign aims to improve children and young people’s health via a variety of changes to policy. One such idea is that a tax on sugary soft drinks would lead to a decrease in overweight and obesity among young people. Being overweight is a leading cause of non-communicable disease such as heart disease, type-2 diabetes and certain cancers. There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that an overweight child will become an obese adult and that increased availability of sugar, such as that found in calorie-laden soft drinks, is a leading factor in the transition from a healthy weight to overweight.

The Children's Food Campaign is calling for the government to introduce a 20p per litre sugary drinks duty to reduce sugar consumption, especially amongst children and teenagers.

In its scheme, any revenue generated would be used to set-up a Children's Future Fund, paying for programmes to improve children's health and protect the environment they grow up in.

Sugary drinks offer no nutritional benefits other than empty calories to a nation already suffering high levels of obesity-related diseases and dental decay – it would be good for our health and the environment if we drank less of them, they say.

According to the group, soft drinks are the largest single source of sugar for children aged 4-10 years and teenagers.

Industry leaders and health professionals agree that something needs to be done about the obesity issue in the UK and around the world, but many agree that a tax may not be the answer.

Gaynor Bussell, Registered Nutritionist and Dietitian, told NutritionInsight: “There appears to be no hard evidence for food taxes lowering obesity levels.

“In countries where sugar taxes have been tried (the most common form of food taxing), intakes of the taxed food did initially fall but then rose again Some experts believe that a tax on some food will not stop people buying these foods but may mean individuals have less money to spend on other food such as fruit and veg.”

However, other health professionals support the move, stating that in the current climate, something must be done, and a tax on obesogenic products is a good place to start.

Speaking to NutritionInsight, Charlotte Stirling-Reed, Registered Nutritionist, said, "At the moment we need change, especially in the current obesogenic environment in which we are living in the UK. Asking individuals to make changes themselves is complicated and is unlikely to result in the BIG change in obesity rates we need. 

“In order to have an impact, we need to change things at a number of levels including via education, government legislation, industry practices and to the environment. Having a fat tax is just one way we could start to make a change to the environment in which we make our food choices. It may be small but any change is beneficial.”

By Kelly Worgan