Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver Calls For ‘Milkshake Tax’ To Fight Obesity

By

1 Minutes Read

Jamie Oliver has spoken out about the sugar in fizzy drinks before (Photo: Instagram/Jamie Oliver) - Media Credit:

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver wants the sugar tax extended to cover milkshakes and other milky drinks in a bid to tackle what he calls Britain’s obesity crisis.

Talking to MPs at a Commons inquiry on childhood obesity, Oliver also called for tighter restrictions on advertising junk food.

Taxes on were introduced last month on non-dairy sugary drinks – but the chef wants to see the levy extended to cover milky beverages too.

‘Logic’

Oliver said: “I definitely don’t think we should overuse taxing, but I think there is some logic to opening it out to milk products, which are jam-packed with additives and sugar and they’re currently outside of that taxing.”

To support his claims, he showed MPs a bottle of strawberry-flavoured Yazoo milk, which contains 33g (equivalent to nine teaspoons) of sugar.

Oliver was joined by fellow celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall who told politicians: “It costs more to treat type two diabetes and obesity-related disease than it does to run the police service, the fire service and the judiciary in this country.”

Join The Plant Based Newsletter and we will plant a tree! 🌳

We plant a tree for every signup. You’ll receive our weekly news round-up and be the first to hear about, product launches, exclusive offers and more!

© 2023 Plant Based News is a UK-based digital media outlet publishing content about veganism and plant-based living, including news and current events, health, personal transformation stories, features, and recipes. | Plant Based News Ltd, PO Box 71173, London, SE20 9DQ, United Kingdom.

buttons/scroll-to-top/scroll-to-top-small-active