Jamie Oliver Takes on Sugary Drinks In Attempt to Curb Obesity Crisis

31 Aug 2015 --- British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, previously known for his campaigns to improve school dinners, is to launch a campaign highlighting the dangers of consuming too much sugar.

The campaign, spearheaded by a documentary entitled Sugar Rush, which will air in the UK on 3rd September, will see Oliver use his passion and popularity to convince consumers that the problems faced due to obesity, illness and tooth decay, are attributable to sugar consumption, and in particular, sugary soft drinks.

As well as the Sugar Rush documentary, Oliver has launched his Five Point Sugar Manifesto, which he thinks will help to reduce sugar consumption and its related problems. The manifesto includes: to introduce a sugary drinks tax; to legislate the UK’s Responsibility Deal; to ban all junk food marketing on television before 9pm; to make the traffic light labelling system mandatory on front-of pack; and to express sugar content of a sugary drink in teaspoons on front-of-pack.

Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, has welcomed the move by Oliver to bring the issues surrounding sugar consumption into the public eye. In a statement, the organisation said that his new programme Sugar Rush puts forward a powerful argument that inaction and voluntary approaches are unacceptable, and that more radical approaches are needed.

Ben Reynolds, Deputy Coordinator of Sustain explained, “We back Jamie’s call for Government to impose a tax on soft drinks with added sugar. The programme shows the shocking effects of sugar on people's lives, the NHS and the country as a whole. With diet-related disease still on the rise, current approaches to address it clearly aren’t working. Whilst Government dither over taking action, we are excited to work with Jamie to set up a Children’s Health Fund linked to a 10p levy on sugary drinks in restaurants, with money going to improve children’s health and food education.”

While many players in the food and drink industry welcome Oliver’s efforts to curb obesity, some in the food industry oppose his methods. The UK’s Food and Drink Federation (FDF) responded to Oliver’s latest campaign:

“We strongly share Jamie Oliver's commitment to improving public health and agree that change is needed. While we haven't been privy to early screenings, reports suggest that the documentary over-simplifies the obesity challenge. The causes of obesity are far more wide-ranging than any single ingredient, food or drink. A narrow focus on single ingredients detracts from the clear and consistent information on nutrition, diets and healthy lifestyles that consumers want and need."

“Leading health experts and UK Government support a comprehensive approach to tackling poor health, including balanced diets and physical exercise. Additional taxes on foods or drinks, on top of the already enforced 20% VAT on most foods, would be regressive, ineffective and unworkable,” the FDF said.