Health Minister Andrew Green recently revealed plans to discuss increasing the cost of high-sugar drinks in an attempt to curb the Island’s growing rates of obesity with his ministerial colleague.
But Treasury Minister Alan Maclean has said that before making any decisions on the matter his department wants to see how such a tax has worked in other jurisdictions and what effect it has had on communities.
Dr Susan Turnbull, Jersey’s Medical Officer of Health, also appeared at the same Scrutiny hearing and said that obesity was a phenomenon of the 20th century and that other countries had seen the benefit of introducing a similar charge on high-sugar items – countries including France, Norway, Hungary and Mexico have already introduced a tax on sugary drinks.The Faculty of Public Health in the UK is also advocating a 20 per cent tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. However, food firms are being given a chance to reduce calories and portion sizes of certain food types voluntarily first.
