{"id":288541,"date":"2025-11-28T21:06:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/288541\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T21:06:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:06:10","slug":"milkshakes-and-lattes-expected-to-be-hit-by-government-sugar-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/288541\/","title":{"rendered":"Milkshakes and lattes expected to be hit by Government sugar tax"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pre-packaged milkshakes and lattes are expected to be hit by the sugar tax in an announcement from the health secretary.<\/p>\n

Wes Streeting is expected to tell the Commons on Tuesday that the Government will end the exemption for milk-based drinks from the existing tax on sugary drinks.<\/p>\n

The move will affect packaged milkshakes and coffees, but not drinks made in cafes and restaurants.<\/p>\n

It follows a Government consultation on the issue, looking at removing the exemption for milk-based drinks while introducing a \u201clactose allowance\u201d to account for the natural sugars in the milk component of the drinks.<\/p>\n

Ministers have also been looking at removing the exemption for milk substitute drinks with \u201cadded sugars\u201d beyond those sugars derived from the principal ingredient, such as oats or rice.<\/p>\n

The sugar tax, also known as the soft drinks industry levy (SDIL), is a tax on pre-packaged drinks such as those sold in cans and cartons in supermarkets.<\/p>\n

It applies to manufacturers and was introduced by the Conservative government in 2018 to help drive down obesity, including among children.<\/p>\n

The Government has also been looking at reducing the maximum amount of sugar allowed in drinks from five grams to four grams per 100ml, after which point they will be hit by the levy.<\/p>\n

According to the Treasury, children\u2019s sugar intake in the UK is more than double the recommended maximum of no more than 5% energy from free sugar.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Health minister Karin Smyth told Times Radio on Tuesday that \u201cobesity is the major challenge of our health service for this generation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asked whether tackling obesity was more important than raising revenue, she said any tax measures would be set out in the Budget but \u201cthe 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\u201d.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cMeasures we\u2019ve 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\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cObesity 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pre-packaged milkshakes and lattes are expected to be hit by the sugar tax in an announcement from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[102,6636,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-288541","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-nutrition","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}