The United Kingdom sets changes to change the sugar tax

The UK government has requested consultation on proposals to widen the sugar tax on refreshing drinks and include milk drinks.

The Levy Refreshing Beverage Industry (SDIL), introduced in 2018 as a measure of obesity, could be expanded to cover drinks with less sugar content and include milk and milk-based drinks, which had so far been exempt.

The consultation states the proposals “to base the success of the SDIL in encouraging refreshing drink producers to reduce the sugar content,” said the HM Revene & Customs and HM Treasury in a joint statement.

The proposals are: Reduce the minimum sugar content for SDIL to apply to 18p (24c) per liter from 5-7.9g per 100 ml to 4g-7.9g per 100 ml; to remove exemption from milk drinks while entering a “lactose amount” that does not penalize natural milk sugars; And to remove the exemption from the substitute drinks from the milk with “added sugars” beyond sugars derived from the main ingredient such as oats or rice.

Currently, drinks with a sugar of 8g or more of sugar per 100 ml are loaded at a higher rate of 24p per liter.

In a statement, a spokesman for the Commercial Association of the Food and Beverage Federation said: “ Food and beverage manufacturers confronts a series of inflationary pressures, and the Government must continue to create the right conditions for companies to innovate and also be clear about their long-term goals to promote business confidence. A predictable regulatory environment is vital to ensuring that our sector can continue to invest more.

The manufacturers had already significantly reduced the sugar content in the drinks for the last five years, included in the milk -based drinks that are not subject to Sdil, added the spokesman.

The British Association of Soft Soft drinks said that the changes were not needed. “ This decision is a change in mud and detrimental to the goals that the risks that risk in investment of reform with questionable positive results. More than seven out of ten soft drinks sold in the United Kingdom are low or without sugar and total sugar eliminated from refreshing drinks between 2015 and 2024 is just less than three quarters of a billion kilometers, ” said one spokesman.

The BSDA spokesman also said “important and unprecedented financial heads for our members, from record inflation and NIC increases, to the costs of spiral ingredients and incoming commercial rates”.

The spokesman added: “These costs have already affected our members’ ability to grow their business and promote employment, and the reduction of the SDIL threshold the risks of making this even more difficult.”