Campaigners are calling for a 'calorie tax' in a bid to slash high sugar and salt content in our food and drink.

Action on Sugar and Action on Salt is calling on the government to introduce a calorie (energy density) levy on all calorie dense processed foods that meet an agreed criteria set by government, similar to the successful Soft Drinks Industry Levy[i] (SDIL, widely known as the ‘Sugar Tax’).

This will mean manufacturers are forced to pay a levy to the government if they fail to reduce excessive calories, i.e. energy, in their processed unhealthy foods.[ii]

This would encourage product reformulation to reduce both fat, in particular saturated fat as recommended in the new guidance from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN),[iii]as well as sugar in unhealthy products. Fat is a bigger contributor to calories in the diet than sugar and therefore essential that manufacturers are encouraged to reduce both in order to tackle the UK’s obesity crisis.[iv]

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