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Sugar tax needed, say US experts

By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website

Sugar is as damaging and addictive as alcohol or tobacco and should be

regulated, claim US health experts.

According to a University of California team, new policies such as taxes are

needed to control soaring consumption of sugar and sweeteners.

Prof Robert Lustig argues in the journal Nature for major shifts in public

policy.

The Food and Drink Federation said "demonising" food was not helpful as the key

to health was a balanced diet.

Several countries are imposing taxes on unhealthy food; Denmark and Hungary

have a tax on saturated fat, while France has approved a tax on soft drinks.

Now, researchers in the US are proposing similar policies for added sugar and

sweeteners, amid concern about the amount of sugar in the diet.

The consumption of sugar has tripled worldwide over the past 50 years, with

links to obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Start Quote

The key to good health is a balanced and varied diet, in the context of a

healthy lifestyle that includes plenty of physical activity

Barbara Gallani Food and Drink Federation

In a comment in the journal Nature, Prof Lustig, a leading child obesity

expert, says governments need to consider major shifts in policy, such as

taxes, limiting sales of sweet food and drinks during school hours, or even

stopping children from buying them below a certain age.

The professor of paediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco,

told the BBC: "It [sugar] meets all the criteria for societal intervention that

alcohol and tobacco meet."

The researchers acknowledge that they face "an uphill political battle against

a powerful sugar lobby".

But they write in Nature, that "with enough clamour for change, tectonic shifts

in policy become possible".

"Take, for instance bans on smoking in public places and the use of designated

drivers, not to mention airbags in cars and condom dispensers in public

bathrooms.

"These simple measures - which have all been on the battleground of American

politics - are now taken for granted as essential tools for our public health

and well-being. It's time to turn our attention to sugar."

'Realistic approach'

Barbara Gallani, director of food safety and science at the UK Food and Drink

Federation, said they recognised the worldwide health burden of non-infectious

diseases and agreed action was needed.

"However, the causes of these diseases are multifactorial and demonising

individual food components does not help consumers to build a realistic

approach to their diet," she explained.

"The key to good health is a balanced and varied diet, in the context of a

healthy lifestyle that includes plenty of physical activity."

Commenting on the Nature commentary, Dr Peter Scarborough of the British Heart

Foundation Health Promotion Research Group at the University of Oxford, said

taxing certain food products was something policymakers should consider.

But he said taxing only one type of food could have unintended consequences,

such as people cutting back on fruit and vegetables to save money for other

purchases.

He told the BBC: "If you only tax one aspect of food like sugar you can have

unintended consequences.

"If you tax fat, salt and sugar, combined with subsidies for fruit and

vegetables, you'll get healthier diets."