Sugar targets: BDA and the Oral Health Foundation call for government intervention

The new sugar reduction data, released on May 22, shows that voluntary action by companies remains slow and even non-existent in places, with an average of just a two per cent reduction across eight categories of retailer and branded foods.   

In 2016 Public Health England challenged food sectors to reduce sugar by 20 per cent by 2020. The report says reduction targets are encouraging some food manufacturers to reduce sugar content in five out of eight food categories, with reductions of 1-6 per cent reported in the paper for products with voluntary reduction targets.

However, soft drinks included in the Soft Drinks Industry levy saw reductions of 11 per cent, proving the power of hard policies over voluntary action.

The BDA has been a leading advocate for the tax. It has called for an expansion to cover sugar sweetened milk, sports and energy drinks, while also seeking sweeping changes to food labelling and branding alongside an end to in-store promotions on unhealthy food and drinks and predatory marketing of high sugar products to children.