Fizzy drink that avoids new sugar tax — but still has SIX teaspoons of the stuff

The much-heralded sugar tax has finally been launched in a bid to tackle childhood obesity. It means any drink containing more than 5g sugar per 100ml will come with an 18p-per-litre tax, while those with more than 8g sugar per 100ml now have a 24p-per-litre tax slapped on them.

So a can of Coca-Cola Classic — which contains around nine teaspoons of sugar — now costs up to 8p more, and a can of 7Up — containing nearly six teaspoons of sugar — costs around 6p more.

But many fizzy drinks are unaffected by the new levy as their manufacturers have instead reformulated their products.

Irn Bru and Dr pepper have ditched their original recipes for less sugary ones, while Tesco, Asda and Morrisons no longer sell any own-brand soft drinks that would be subject to the tax.

however, just because a drink has escaped the fee, it would be unwise to assume it is a ‘healthy’ choice. Many still have added flavourings, acids, colours and preservatives, while, bizarrely, some aren’t even any lower in sugar. That’s because soft drinks that take their sugar from fruit juices aren’t being taxed, even though this type of sugar still counts as the damaging added or ‘free’ type, along with other sweeteners such as honey and plain old white table sugar.

It’s recommended our intake of this type of sugar should be limited to 30g, or around seven-and-a-half teaspoons, per day for adults and 24g (six teaspoons) daily for seven to ten-year-olds.

excess free sugars — which is different from sugar contained naturally in, say, milk or whole fruit — contribute to dental decay and weight gain.

here, registered dietitian helen Bond assesses a range of drinks that are exempt from the sugar tax, which we’ve then given an overall score out of ten.