The Government currently has no plans to introduce a ‘sugar tax’. However, I am assured that the Government is committed to reducing obesity in the UK and its impact on public health. With over 55% of adults in Bath now classed as overweight or obese, I am committed to reducing this figure in our city and promoting healthy lifestyles.
I am proud that the UK is the first country in Europe to introduce a voluntary, consistent front-of-pack nutritional labelling scheme. This system is recognisable on food packets through the red, amber and green colour-coding and nutritional information to show how much fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar, and calories are in food products. I am pleased to see that the businesses that have signed up to the scheme sell two-thirds of food sold in the UK.
In addition to this, some of the biggest food manufacturers in the country have committed to helping people cut their calorie consumption through reducing portion sizes and promoting healthier options. It is now much easier to see the sugar content in drinks and the drinks industry has been consistent in developing more low or no sugar options. In my view these are a constructive range of measures to address this issue.
It is also a Government priority to tackle childhood obesity and the risk factors that are associated with it, such as type 2 diabetes. This is another area that I am committed to tackling Bath, as 1 in 6 children in our city are classed as obese. The Government is working closely with health organisations on a wide range of projects including the Change4Life programme and the School Food Plan. These actions are producing positive results with childhood obesity now levelling off.
The online petition for this issue can be found here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/106651. All petitions that reach 100,000 signatures are considered for debate in Parliament. As a member of the Petitions Committee, this is something that I will be personally considering.