Milkshakes and lattes face tax hikes as the government confirmed it is extending the ’sugar tax’.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced that the exemption for pre-packaged milk-based drinks is being scrapped.
He also declared that the threshold for the levy is being lowered from 5g of sugar per 100ml to 4.5g - potentially dragging in many more drinks.
Speaking at health questions in the House of Commons he said: "Obesity robs children of the best possible start in life, hits the poorest hardest, sets them up for a lifetime of health problems and costs the NHS billions.
"So, I can announce to the House, we’re expanding the soft drinks industry levy to include bottles and cartons of milkshakes, flavoured milk and milk substitute drinks.
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"We’re also reducing the threshold to 4.5 grams of sugar per 100 millilitres. This Government will not look away as children get unhealthier and our political opponents urge us to leave them behind."
The move is being billed as part of a crackdown on obesity - but it could also raise as much as £100million a year for the Treasury.
The announcement comes just hours before Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils her Budget and says how she will attempt to fill a yawning gap in the public finances.
The change, which follows a consultation, will affect packaged milkshakes and coffees, but not drinks made in cafes and restaurants.
According to the Treasury, children’s sugar intake in the UK is more than double the recommended maximum of no more than 5% energy from free sugar.
The existing levy has led to a 46% average reduction in sugar between 2015 and 2020 for those soft drinks that were to be brought under the rules.
Health minister Karin Smyth said that “obesity is the major challenge of our health service for this generation”.
Asked whether tackling obesity was more important than raising revenue, she said any tax measures would be set out in the Budget but “the wider point is about tackling obesity, which we know is one of the biggest causes of ill health, and therefore demand on the health service”.
She added: “Measures we’ve already announced as part of the manifesto, to reduce junk food advertising, particularly to protect young people from becoming obese, because if you become obese at a young age, it does limit your life chances…
“Obesity is the major challenge of our health service for this generation, and it is important that we make sure that we create the healthiest young generation of children coming forward.”
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