Sugar pollution: Curbing sugar supply for health and the environment

Sugar pollution: Curbing sugar supply for health and the environment SUMMARY OCTOBER 2023 Sugar pollution: Curbing sugar supply for health and the environment THE UK HAS AN OVERSUPPLY OF SUGAR SUGAR IS ENVIRONMENTALLY DAMAGING AND • The UK faces rising ‘sugar pollution’: the impacts on public UNSUSTAINABLE health and the environment of producing, importing, and consuming too much sugar [1]. [...] • The supply of sugar in the UK is currently two-and-a-half • During harvesting, sugar beet causes irreversible damage times the amount needed to meet the population’s to some of our best-quality soils, lifting an average of maximum recommended intake [2]. [...] 2.0 1.91 • The cost of fruits and vegetables has skyrocketed in the UK Million tonnes and its supply of fruit and vegetables is insufficient to 1.5 provide its citizens with the recommended five servings per day [12]. [...] SUGAR IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF DIET-RELATED ILL HEALTH • The Sugar Reduction Programme aimed to reduce sugar in products contributing the most sugar to children’s diets by • Sugar consumption causes tooth decay, the most common 20% by 2020. [...] • Demand-side policies are important and government must • Public Health England’s analysis found that reducing energy build on the success of the SDIL with fiscal measures to intake from sugar to 5% could prevent 3,500 deaths and incentivise companies to make healthier products, but supply- 173,000 dental caries cases annually, whist saving the NHS side measures to reduce sugar production and imp.