Sugar tax on milkshakes and ice lattes?

It appears that the UK’s Labour government might be about to introduce a new ‘sugar tax’ on milkshakes and iced lattes if current speculation in the media turns out to be true. Ministers in the British Parliament are, at present, consulting with industry and advisors over whether to also introduce a reduction in the allowed maximum sugar content from 5g to 4gg per 100ml.

This reduction would require the drinks industry to reformulate their drinks and could prove to be expensive to achieve. A cost that will inevitably be passed onto the consumer in the medium to long run and make drinks like milkshakes and iced lattes considerably more expensive, albeit marginally healthier. Some idea of the cost increase is that yoghurt drinks, milkshakes and packaged coffee drinks could rise by up to 26p a litre.

The so called sugar tax was introduced by the previous Conservative administration in 2018 and has led to an overall 48 per cent reduction in sugar in soft drinks – but according to health officials Britons still consume almost double the healthy level of sugar annually.

It is expected that the decision of the deliberations will be announced in the government’s autumn statement. Crucially, milk based products had previously been exempt from the sugar tax as they contained calcium and other nutrients.