Governments are renowned for getting things wrong. The British government is no exception. In 2018 under the then Theresa May Conservative government a sugar tax was introduced in a bid to force drink companies to reduce the amount of sugar they put in their fizzy drinks, with the hope of reducing obesity levels.
The idea might sound like a noble one on the surface but as soon as I heard about it I knew we were in trouble. The original idea came from television celebrity chef Jamie Oliver who was worried about kids' diets, he had been pushing for this tax for years and eventually he got his way the entitled, self aggrandizing annoying piece of shit millionaire.
The more I looked into the rationale of a sugar tax the more angry I got. Why on earth should everyone be forced to pay more to enjoy a sweet drink just because some reckless parents don't know how to moderate their children's sugar consumption?
So where was the government campaign to educate those negligent parents not to allow their kids too many sugary drinks? It was nowhere to be seen of course. The government insisted the sugar tax was the right way to proceed, but of course common sense tells us it wasn't. Common sense dictates the state has no right to tell any company how little sugar they can use in any product before attracting more tax to help make the nation healthier. That's a job left for the parents. Why the hell should we all pay more for the reckless actions of a minority of parents?
The government said the extra revenue generated from the tax would go into education and physical education activities for schools. As though that justified the tax. The most recent data we have is that the sugar tax for the latest year has generated the government £163m from sugar tax receipts, half the previous year. That will eventually decrease to nothing.
We basically had a situation in which a very rich television celebrity persuaded a government to charge us more to enjoy a sugary drink, a small little treat. I don't think I have ever known anything so unnecessary and unwanted when it comes to the regulation of the food and drink industries.
Most of these companies have now reformulated their drinks to avoid paying the tax and now their drinks taste like crap. We can't even as grown adults grab a refreshing sugary drink in Britain anymore, because most now taste bland and are packed with sweeteners which taste disgusting. There is of course a separate argument that sweeteners are no better but I will leave that for another day. I used to really enjoy the brand Sanpellegrino carbonated drinks but they have fallen foul of the reformulation monster and now they taste disgusting.
(You'll notice the words Tastefully Light at the top denoting reformulation, it should read Tastelessly Light, Sanpellegrino have ruined their drinks for British consumers, which is now devoid of taste and packed with sweeteners.)
Fortunately Coca-Cola are the only fizzy drinks company that has refused to reformulate it's main fizzy drink items, and good for them. Coke and Cherry Coke remain untouched but sadly Dr. Pepper, Fanta and Sprite have suffered from reformulation. At least I can still enjoy a Cherry Coke, my favourite fizzy drink, without it tasting like crap. But for how long?
(For now Coca-Cola is safe and still in its original form, but for how much longer?)
Sadly Pepsi caved in to the British government last year and have now reformulated their original Pepsi drink. This has been an unmitigated disaster for the company. No one likes it. Just take a look at the reviews on two of the major British supermarkets' websites - Tesco and Morrisons. Here's what Tesco customers have to say about the reformulated Pepsi 2 litre bottle.
Lol!!!!!!!! With an average rating of 1.1 stars it's a real success story for Pepsi there!
Now take a look at the reviews on Morrisons for a 6 can pack of Pepsi:
Another resounding success for Pepsi with 1 star overall. How on earth a company can get this so wrong I will never know?
If ever you needed a more vivid example of the state unnecessarily reaching in to peoples' lives, playing the role of parent and costing all of us more money in the process the sugar tax has to be it. Furthermore, obesity rates have not fallen in the UK, they have actually increased. The sugar tax has been a complete failure all round.
I wonder if the government will now turn their sights towards and ruin the taste of cakes or biscuits? What about confectionery? After all it's for our own good. What about fat and salt when are those taxes being imposed? How about the introduction of a carb or calorie tax? Don't worry it will be for our own good because we don't know how to look after ourselves.
When will the madness end? When ordinary people do something about it.
Peace!