to agree with Jamie Oliver that sugar is "the next tobacco" and it should be taxed due to its health risks

[haveatarday]

I think Jo is a twat, but I do agree with this. I also think he should feel very guilty for all his promotion of sugary foods that he has made millions off. I remember him going on about crap school dinners all the while being the focus of sainsburys Christmas's foods and promoting gingerbread, trifile and other junk food all while saying go on its Christmas.

I disagree. Sugar and sugary foods are perfectly fine. It is excess that is the problem. Why should sugary foods be a luxury for those with extra money? Food is expensive enough as it is. I don't think pricing it out of poor people's reach is fair.

YABU sugar is not harmful in moderation. Duhhhh

Yabu why should those who eat in moderation be penalized because if those who gorge themselves.

So only the rich get to eat trifle then?

No. Food should never be taxed. Not even food which is unhealthy if taken to excess - which most food is. It's quite unlike tobacco which is always harmful and never beneficial.

Some of ancient MNers remember that in 1962 the purchase tax on confectionery was massively increased; the doctors applauded, the dentists more so. It had no effect on consumption and the extra tax was quietly dropped in 1973 when FAT replaced purchase tax.

Sorry, Jamie, stick to cookery and stay out of finance.

Perhaps there might be an argument for putting a tax on at the manufacturers end to try and get them to stop adding hidden sugars to stuff.

But generally I think no. We need to look at our own individual reasons for why we keep putting this shit in our mouths and learn for ourselves to say no.

I'd save up for trifle.I'd have a trifle fund.

• of us

Define sugar.

"FAT"

Freudian typo Andrew?

Yes, he hates using it in his recipes.

SaucyJack Whoopsie!

You do realise that there did used to be a sugar tax and that it had disastrous results - namely that children died after sugar in sweets had been substituted with all sort of crap to make them affordable?

Sugar is in everything processed tho.... It's everywhere. Hidden

There's no 'moderation'

It's the hidden sugar in food that's the issue.

And isn't it right that the quantities have increased over the years?

Fuck that

People need to learn to take responsibility for themselves

Taxing the shit out of everything is not the answer

YANBU at all. I try to make sure we eat a healthy, balanced meal every evening and have lots of fresh fruit etc - however, it is much more expensive to do this. Before we had children and cared too much about this, we could fill up the freezer and live for two to three weeks on what we now spend in one week because we buy fresh.

I just think if they increased the price of high-sugar foods, fruit and veg would be a more viable option for poorer families - I work with disadvantaged families as part of my work and they are always complaining about how expensive it is to "eat right".

I don't think tax is necessarily a solution but at least people are recognising the problem.

I don't think thye should tax it but IMO the govt should insure that manufactures cant keep putting more sugar in stuff without us noticing.

I'm not sure how or what the answer is- maybe a symbol on the packaging showing how many teaspoons of sugar are in the product?

I'd only have a trifle fund if it was proper sherry trifle, made with jelly and tinned fruit

People need to learn to take responsibility for themselves - true.

However, it would be good if the muti-nationals stopped adding sugar (and salt) to so many staple foods like bread that don't actually need it.

But making sugar more expensive won't make eating "right" any cheaper.

Besides which- the cost of food doesn't really factor in to a junk food addiction anywhere near as much as people claim it does. Something like a jacket and beans or pasta and pesto is far cheaper than a take-away.

That is discrimination against the children of the rich whose behaviour won't need to change when the price goes up. Don't we care about them too?

If you really think it's poison then campaign to make it illegal like cocaine so it applies to everyone.

Let's ban skiing too. That can kill you really fast. Alcohol is pretty deadly too. Especially for the victims of violence and drunk driving

If you're going to let the government pick what people can eat then why not take the next logical step. Issue a daily sheet specifying what everyone in the country must eat today with no exceptions. That way everyone from the poorest person to the Queen will be eating the same nutritious food at the same time.

phoenixrose314 Please explain how making Product A dearer makes Product B cheaper.

Relatively, yes, but not absolutely. All you are doing is driving up the cost of living.

SaucyJack on RTFT I see we have converged!

They stick sugar in EVERYTHING! (same with salt). Soup, ketchup, it's ridiculous. The only way someone can be sugar free is if they cook everything from scratch. Foods shouldn't be taxed, people need to go cold turkey from all of the crap peddled as 'food' so they can get their taste buds back.

I would love to see more chefs produce recipes without sugar, is that his next book? I would buy it. (for the purpose of disclosure, I have kids with multiple food intolerances and the latest suggestion is to remove sugar from their diet and this is next to impossible!! Anything remotely nice has sugar in it!!)

I disagree that sugar is the problem - but over-processed food is addictive, and is the real,problem I think.

We need to teach decent nutrition in schools, alongside budgeting and cooking so people have the skills to cook good food from scratch. And we need to stop demonising individual food groups - I think there is no such thing as a bad basic food stuff - but we need to eat them in the right proportions.

Making sugar eeeeeevil will just make people feel they have failed if a grain of it crosses their lips, and dieting is much better served by positive emotions - guilt and failure lead to comfort eating and the 'I failed, so I might as well stuff my face with it' reaction.