Strategist suggests sugar tax on foods

Taxes on sugar should be implemented to drive down its use in sweet foods – and will not hit ordinary customers, the author of a new food strategy has said.

The independent National Food Strategy has called for a Sugar and Salt Reformulation Tax as part of efforts to transform the nation’s diet to include less sugar, salt and meat to save lives and protect the NHS and the environment.

It warns that what we eat, and how it is produced, is doing “terrible damage” to the environment and health, contributing to 64,000 deaths a year in England, and driving wildlife loss and climate change – which in turn put food security at risk.

While the report by food entrepreneur Henry Dimbleby says meat consumption should be cut by 30% in a decade to cut emissions and free up land for storing carbon and preserving nature, it calls a meat tax impossible.

Instead, the review urges the government to “nudge” consumers into changing their meat-eating habits, for example by investing in alternative proteins.

It also calls on ministers to make sure the budget for payments for farmers to deliver environmental benefits, such as restoring nature, preventing floods and improving soils, is guaranteed until at least 2029. And the payments need to be generous enough for land managers to make the switch from conventional farming to more sustainable options.

Food standards must be protected in any new trade deals to safeguard British farmers from unfair competition or even being bankrupted.

National Farmers’ Union president Minette Batters said the report should be a wake-up call that people need to value the food they eat, but warned that distinctions are needed between sustainable British meat and cheap imports.

“This strategy says major reform is needed of the food system. I would suggest we first look at the actions our government is taking by agreeing to trade deals that welcomes in imported meat in limitless amounts,” she said.

The report warned that disease caused by poor diets costs the economy an estimated £74 billion a year while the food we eat accounts for around a quarter of greenhouse gases and is the leading driver of wildlife loss.

To meet existing government targets by 2032 fruit and vegetable consumption will need to increase by 30% and fibre by 50%.

At the same time, consumption of food high in saturated fat, salt and sugar will have to go down by 25%, and meat consumption should reduce by 30%.

CHANGE: Henry Dimbleby’s report warned that Britain’s current food habits are doing “terrible damage”.

Minette Batters described the report as a “wake-up call”.