Stop delaying sugar reduction report, health organisations tell Government

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The sugar reduction report, which was due to be published last year, is expected to provide further evidence of the success of the soft drinks industry levy since its introduction four years ago today, while also exposing a “dismaying lack of progress” in most other product categories covered by the voluntary reduction programme, the campaigners said. We hope the Government will mark this anniversary by committing to publish the final sugar reduction report without any further delay.” The soft drinks industry levy, which came into force on April 6 2018, removed 48,000 metric tonnes of sugar per year from soft drinks from 2015 to 2019, according to the previous 2020 interim sugar reduction report. The sugar reduction programme, which was one of the key strategies along with the soft drinks levy launched under former prime minister Theresa May’s government, set out to slash sugar levels by 20% across a raft of products high in fat, salt and sugar in the main categories consumed by children by 2021. Anna Taylor, executive director of The Food Foundation, said: “The soft drinks levy has been hugely successful in reducing the amount of sugar we drink, but we are still seeing soaring levels of childhood obesity.