The sugar levy, announced earlier this year, will impose a tiered tax on sugary soft drinks other than fruit juices and milk – adding for instance 48 pence to the price of a two litre bottle of lemonade – which will raise £520m a year from 2018. However, this was only one of eight recommendations made by Public Health England in response to the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition’s guidance that sugar should be reduced to 5 per cent of energy intake.
The Government’s new Childhood Obesity Action Plan, despite taking years to materialise, runs to only 13 pages and has ignored recommendations to curb price promotions and tighten advertising restrictions for high sugar products, and watered down the call for mandatory reformulation into a voluntary programme.
Mick Horton, dean of FGDP(UK), responded: “Eating and drinking too much sugar can cause tooth decay, obesity, type-2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and even cancer, yet as a nation we consume a third more than we did 25 years ago and almost three times the recommended amount. A single can of cola contains more than a child’s reference intake of sugar for an entire day, so is it any surprise that two in ten children in England are obese by the time they leave primary school, or that tooth extraction is the primary reason why children are admitted to hospital?
“While we’re pleased to see the commitment to the sugar levy, in not restricting advertising and price promotions, nor investing in providing dietary and preventative oral health advice, the Government has missed a golden opportunity to empower the public to make healthier choices and tackle the rise in avoidable dental extractions.”
Professor Nigel Hunt, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, said: “We have continually drawn attention to the impact sugar has on children’s oral health. While we welcome the proposed sugar tax as a big step forward, although the revenue it raises could be used to fund more oral health programmes, the lack of ambition outlined in this government document leaves a sour taste in the mouth of dentists who have fought hard for tougher measures. The average five year old child eats their own weight in sugar each year so it is crystal clear that much more needs to be done. We will continue to push new ministers hard on further action to protect the nation’s oral health.”