Prime Minister Liz Truss is preparing to scrap the sugar tax on soft drinks to ease the cost-of-living crisis.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has ordered health officials to review obesity control measures “in the context of the cost of living” in a move seen as a prelude to ditching many of them, the Times reported.
The sugar tax, officially called the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, was introduced in April 2018 as part of a plan to tackle childhood obesity.
A ban on “buy one, get one free” promotions on unhealthy food, already postponed for a year, is now unlikely to go ahead, as is next month’s ban on sweets and chocolates on display at the supermarket checkouts.
Policies that “have a direct impact on the cost of living” are being targeted by the review, the paper reported.
Many companies changed their products to avoid the levy of 18p a litre for products with 5g to 8g of sugar per 100ml and 24p per litre for drinks with a higher sugar content.
Truss previously backed the idea of scrapping the tax, saying “taxes on treats hit those on the lowest incomes” and is a long-term critic of “nanny state” policies, the Times noted.