Forty different health organisations have written to health secretary Sajid Javid demanding the government stops delaying publication of the report on the industry’s voluntary sugar reduction programme.
The Grocer revealed earlier this month that the report looked set to be published a full year behind schedule, despite having been billed as one of the key strategies in tackling childhood obesity.
The letter comes six years to the day since the launch of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. Campaign groups are calling on Javid to move to mandatory targets and consider introducing sugar taxes across other categories, as recommended in Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy. Campaigners claim the voluntary approach has been proven not to work.
The campaign groups pointed to government figures showing the SDIL – which came into force in 2018 – led to the removal of 48,000 tonnes of sugar per year from soft drinks from 2015 to 2019. This was in stark contrast, they said, to the lack of progress in other categories.
The voluntary programme was plunged into crisis when the last update, in 2020, revealed some categories had seen “little or no progress”, while others had seen massive increases in sugar levels.
Some categories, such as chocolate and sweet confectionery, had seen sugar levels virtually unchanged, while increased sales had led to a massive increase in the volume of sugar sold.
Organisations to have signed the letter include Sustain, the Obesity Health Alliance, British Heart Foundation, the Food Foundation, Royal Society for Public Health, British Dental Association, Diabetes UK and Action on Sugar.
They said they acknowledged delay may have been caused by the scrapping of Public Health England and the establishment of the new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. This took place during autumn 2021, when the sugar reduction report was originally scheduled to be published.
But they pointed out the government still promised the report would be published in “early 2022” – which was confirmed in a minister’s statement in January.
There has been speculation the government wants to publish the report after the National Food Strategy, to avoid giving ammunition to the call for more taxes.
“The final report of the voluntary sugar reduction programme has not yet even been made public, 18 months after the final data was collected,” the letter said.
“We believe that all the data and analysis has now been conducted, and that the report has been made ready for publication.
“Commercial sales data and public polling shows increasing consumption of snacks and sugary products during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Covid-19 has also had a significant effect on health services, leading to a backlog of care and millions of people living with undiagnosed or unmanaged conditions, including tooth decay and preventable disease exacerbated by poor diet. It is now all the more vital that the government takes further action to prevent these diseases and their associated cost burden to the NHS.”
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