Sarah Skelton
Do you understand the 'sugar tax'?
SDIL - Soft Drinks Industry Levy

“ On Friday 6th April 2018 a tax (SDIL) commonly known as the ‘sugar tax’ was introduced in the aim to help reduce obesity especially in the younger generation. ”
How much is the sugar tax costing the producers?
(NB this is this is based on the diluted serving where appropriate and the levy is paid by the producer, which in many cases has and will continue to increase the cost to the consumer.)
18p per litre on drinks that have a total sugar content of more than 5g and less than 8g per 100ml
24p per litre on drinks that have a total sugar content of 8g or more per 100ml
How much sugar do popular soft drinks contain?
Coke 35g in a 330ml can Coca-Cola classic – 11 ½ sugar cubes
Pepsi 36g per 330 ml can of Pepsi – 12 sugar cubes
Fanta 15g per 330 ml can of Fanta Orange – 5 sugar cubes
RedBull 27g per 250 ml can of Red Bull Energy Drink – 9 sugar cubes
What is the recommended level of sugar?
Added sugars shouldn't make up more than 5% of a person's calorie intake from food and drink each day, this is about 30g of sugar a day for those aged 11 and over.
Which drinks are liable for the sugar tax
it has had sugar added during production, or anything (other than fruit juice, vegetable juice and milk) that contains sugar, such as honey
it contains at least 5 grams (g) of sugar per 100 millilitres (ml) in its ready to drink or diluted form. If it’s either ready to drink, or to be drunk it must be diluted with water, mixed with crushed ice or processed to make crushed ice, mixed with carbon dioxide, or a combination of these. If it’s bottled, canned or otherwise packaged so it’s ready to drink or be diluted
it has a content of 1.2% alcohol by volume (ABV) or less
What’s classed as sugar
For the purposes of the sugar tax, sugar includes (but isn’t limited to):
sucrose
glucose
fructose
lactose
galactose
It doesn’t include sugar replacements, like:
stevia
aspartame
sucralose
erythritol
Drinks that aren’t liable for the sugar tax.
The levy doesn’t apply to drinks that are:
at least 75% milk
a milk replacement, like soya or almond milk
an alcohol replacement, like de-alcoholised beer or wine
made with fruit juice or vegetable juice and don’t have any other added sugar
liquid drink flavouring that’s added to food or drinks like coffee or cocktails
sold as a powder
prepared by mixing liquids and served in an open container, like cocktails
infant formula, follow on formula or baby foods
formulated food intended as a total diet replacement, or dietary food used for special medical purposes
Milk and milk based drinks
For your drink to be classed as milk or a milk based drink, it must contain at least 75ml of milk per 100ml of prepared drink.
For the purposes of the sugar tax, types of milk include:
milk from an animal
reconstituted or recombined milk
fermented milk
buttermilk
whey
reconstituted or recombined whey
Cream isn’t included in the definition of milk.
Milk replacement drinks
For your drink to be classed as a milk replacement drink, it must:
contain at least 120 milligrams of calcium per 100ml
be derived from legumes, cereals, nuts, seeds or another type of plant
have all or most of the same uses as milk
have a consistency similar to milk
not be carbonated
the drink isn’t diluted or mixed with anything else, apart from anything that’s been dissolved into the drink through distillation
What’s classed as fruit juice
For the purposes of the levy, fruit juice includes (but isn’t limited to):
fruit puree
dehydrated fruit juice
powdered fruit juice
It doesn’t include de-ionised fruit juice or juice drinks with added sugar.
Ref Gov.co.uk #weightloss #health #slimming #sugartax #sugar