UK sugar tax led to fall in consumption in children and adults

The amount of sugar consumed per person each day in the UK fell by 11 g in adults and 5 g in children one year after a new tax on sugary foods and drinks was introduced, an analysis of health surveys has found.

A drop in the consumption of sugary drinks was alone responsible for half of the reduction, after the 2018 rollout of the soft drinks industry levy, concluded the study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.1 Among children the reduction in sugar consumption from soft drinks accounted for an even higher proportion: 3 g of the total daily sugar reduction of 4.8 g, the analysis of 11 years of survey data found.

The study, aiming to examine the effect of the sugar tax on consumption of free sugars in the diet and …