Sugar tax to add 10c to can of cola from today

THE average can of cola will rise in price by 10c to €1.25 as the sugar tax kicks in today.

Health experts hope that by hitting shoppers in the pocket the amount of sugar they consume will be cut, and the number of obese or overweight adults will be reduced.

A 330ml can of cola will go up to around €1.25 and the total raised by the new tax is expected to be around €40million in its first year. The Department of Health estimates that figure will fall as shoppers switch to low-sugar drinks.

As a standard can of cola goes up in price, a can of sugar-free diet cola will stay the same, tempting people to switch to the lower-priced drink.

Safefood Ireland’s Dr Cliodhna Foley Nolan said: ‘A lot of reformulation by the food industry has already been done which is a good thing... From a health perspective we’re interested in the medium to long-term change.’

Almost a fifth – 19% – of families’ supermarket spending is on biscuits, chocolates and sugary drinks while just 10% is spent on fruit and 7% on vegetables.

Familes spend hundreds a year more on sugary drinks – €199 – and sugary snacks – €1,037 – compared to just €512 on fruit and €346 on vegetables, Safefood research has found.

It is expected the tax will add around €50 to a family’s annual grocery bill.

The greatest effects will be seen in young and middle-aged adults, who consume the most amount of sugary drinks. Healthy-eating campaigner Professor Donal O’Shea, head of HSE Obesity Management, said: ‘I’m absolutely delighted the tax has come in.

‘It’s really important and more important now than when people first started asking for it five or six years ago... because the full scale of the harm that obesity is driving is now clearer.

‘The link with cancer, the link with dementia, the link with all the chronic diseases is now more clearly established,’ he said.

‘Showing [the sugar tax] works in Ireland will be an important next step for other countries.

‘We’re one of the first and already we’re seeing a reformulation of sugary drinks and that’s a response to the tax.’

The Irish Beverage Council, which represents soft-drink manufacturers, said the tax will make ‘not a lot’ of difference.

A spokesman said: ‘Soft drinks were early movers in sugar reduction, beginning in 1983. Since the 1990s, the number of no-sugar drinks has increased dramatically. 76% of soft drinks sold in Ireland are sugar tax free.’

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohue said: ‘The imposition of a financial barrier on sugar sweetened drinks will result in reduced consumption by incentivising individuals to opt for healthier drinks.’

The Irish Heart Foundation wants cash from the tax to ‘support the development of new family food initiatives, further expansion of the school meals programme, removal of vending machines and the provision of free drinking water in all schools’.

‘Harm of obesity is now clearer’