COMING FOR COFFEE NEXT
Frappucinos, milkshakes and squash could be slapped with sugar tax next as campaigners set their sights on sugary coffee
FRAPPUCINOS, milkshakes and squash could be slapped with the sugar tax next, campaigners have warned.
Brits are already being forced to pay more for fizzy drinks from this week as part of a new Government crackdown on obesity.
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And now sweet coffee drinks could be targeted too, it is feared.
Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, welcomed the work to remove sugar from the nation’s diet, but said that chain shops were to also blame for dragging their feet.
"Lacing coffee with so much sugar is ridiculous," he told the Sunday Times.
He wants the sugar tax to be extended to other drinks such as coffee, where sugar syrup can be added which can have up to 25 teaspoons of sugar in it.
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Starbucks last year was selling festive coffees with as much sugar in it as SEVEN chocolate doughnuts, The Sun revealed.
And other campaigners want the new sugar tax - which is set at 18p per litre for drinks containing 5 - 8g of sugar, and 24 if it has more than that - to be pushed up in the coming years.
Professor Graham MacGregor, chairman of Action on Sugar, suggested it should act in the same way as the tobacco tax, which has increased every few years. “Sugar-sweetened drinks are no better than cigarettes,” he said. “There’s no benefit to them.”
The money raised by the extra tax - estimated to be around £520million - will be spent on primary school sports.
Many drinks have changed their recipes to try and get around the new tax, and have put more sweeteners in instead.
But Coca-Cola and Pepsi will cost more after bosses decided not to change the recipe and avoid infuriating fans - and could force prices up by 10p.
Fanta, Sprite and Lucozade have all changed their sugar levels.
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Pure fruit juice, which has naturally occurring sugars, has been exempt from the charges.
But the tax has been met with furious resistance from some quarters with opponents saying it will hit the poor hardest and actually misses out some of the most sugary drinks.
Last week The Sun launched our Hands Off Our Grub campaign against food and drinks charges that slam the poor.
MPs backed our Hands Off Our Grub drive, which follows the sugar tax on beverages - as a minister warned of more levies.
Ex-minister Andrew Percy said: “The last thing consumers need is for food to become more expensive.
"Education, not tax rises, is how to encourage healthier eating. Better labelling and public education should be the Government’s priority.”
Treasury Secretary Robert Jenrick warned milk drinks would be next unless makers cut sugar by a fifth within two years.
Sweets and juices could also be hit.
He said: “The levy proved firms can reduce sugar without ruining taste.
“The fact they did before it came into force shows its success. We want makers of other products to follow.”
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Daniel Pryor of the Adam Smith Institute think tank called the levy “clearly useless”, adding: “There is no evidence it works.”
Mr Pryor blasted the sugar tax, saying: “Our poorly-designed, paternalistic sugary drinks tax will hurt poor people.
“Many of those hit by the sugar tax will simply substitute more expensive soft drinks for cheaper (but still sugary) alternatives, or other sugary drinks like milkshakes.
But the levy would deter 47 per cent of all Brits, a poll found.
Other countries have introduced similar measures and have seen some success in reducing the drinking of fizzy drinks.