The UK government should extend its sugar tax to cover all food products and introduce a new salt levy, according to a new report.
Published by the University of Reading’s Transforming UK Food Systems research programme, the report entitled ‘Regulatory Tools for a Healthy and Sustainable Diet’ highlights how the existing soft drinks levy – introduced in 2018 – has helped reduced sugar content in UK beverages by 44%.
This was up from the 34.3% reported last year as part of the World Health Organization’s bulletin calling for a sugar tax to be applied to cakes, biscuits, and chocolate. The new report also suggests taking a similar approach to the soft drinks levy, expanding it across all food types, including bakery, to help tackle the UK’s obesity crisis.
“Extending the sugar tax to all processed foods is vital,” commented professor Chris Hilson, lead author of the report at the University of Reading. “The current levy has successfully cut sugar in soft drinks, but we need to see the same success with products like milkshakes, biscuits, yogurts and breakfast cereals to improve public health.”
Another proposal put forward among a set of recommended regulations was the introduction of a salt tax – this would not only transform public health in the UK, but also to deliver nationwide environmental benefits, states the report. “Mandatory measures on the food sector, such as a salt tax, should be considered by MPs,” said Hilson.
“Stronger regulations on the wider food sector could mean a healthier environment, as well as a healthier population,” he added.
An introduction of sugar and salt taxes had also been recommended by the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee in its ‘Recipe for health: a plan to fix our broken food system’ report published last October.
Regulate to boost growth
The report calls on more stringent regulations for the food sector and a move away from the current approach, which relies more on voluntary measures. Its authors argue that such measures, such as information labels on food packaging, have failed to address serious environmental damage and poor health outcomes at a population-wide scale. Stronger policies would also support economic goals rather than hinder them, it notes, as a healthy environment and workforce are essential for long-term growth.
Other key recommendations from the report include:
- Setting sectoral greenhouse gas targets for agriculture
- Adding dairy and beef farms to environmental permitting schemes
- Requiring large food businesses to report on their sales of unhealthy products
- Making front of pack traffic light food labelling mandatory on all products.
Professor Christine Riefa of the University of Reading warned that voluntary approaches have not worked, with the UK now in a crisis state. “Companies and farmers who want to do better are undermined by those who profit from ignoring health and environmental concerns,” she said.
Hilson added: “We can’t produce food without healthy soils, thriving pollinators and a stable climate, and no economy benefits from a population made sick by poor diets.”
The government is to unveil its food strategy and 25-year farming roadmap later this year. This joins the new restrictions on advertising for products high in fat, sugar, or salt (HFSS) coming into force from 1 October 2025. A month-long consultation on how these restrictions will be applied, run by the Advertising Standards Authority, is about to conclude at time of writing.
Many believe the raft of HFSS rules have influenced sugar reduction in bakery NPD, a trend set to accelerate in 2025.
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