News • Children's Food Campaign
Hooray! Sugar Tax passes Commons vote
MPs have today approved the Finance Bill, which incorporates legislation enabling the introduction of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy in April 2018. This is a good day for parents and children's health, says Sustain, which has led the call for a sugary drinks tax in the UK.
“This is a good day for parents, health professionals and indeed Parliament. The cross-party support in the House of Commons for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy reflects the popularity of this measure across the country. We all have a great desire to see effective and urgent action taken to reduce children’s consumption of sugary foods and drinks.
"A sugary drinks tax has been a hard-fought victory for children’s health. But the next Government should be under no illusion about the scale of the challenge remaining. The battle-lines of opposition have already been drawn by the food and drinks industries and their well-funded front-groups to other similarly brave and bold measures – including restrictions on junk food marketing and promotions – that are needed to reduce childhood obesity and diet-related ill-health.”
“This is a landmark day for children’s health. Reducing our children’s sugar intake is a vital step to tackling devastating high levels of obesity, and can’t happen soon enough.
“There is evidence from other countries that show similar measures have helped to reduce the amount of sugary soft drinks consumed and we look forward to seeing comparable results here.
“We applaud Parliament for showing their commitment to reducing children’s sugar consumption and encourage all parties ahead of the general election to commit to tackling childhood obesity and upholding the implementation and robust evaluation of the levy.”
Published Tuesday 25 April 2017
Children's Food Campaign: Better food and food teaching for children in schools, and protection of children from junk food marketing are the aims of Sustain's high-profile Children's Food Campaign. We also want clear food labelling that can be understood by everyone, including children.
