Petition to ask the PM to cut taxation on healthy fruit juices and smoothies...

[ShinyHappyPeopleEatingEggs]

..if you feel strongly enough!

Oi Tony!! Help us afford our five-a-day!

I am sounding pedantic now.. but not everyone will want to drink water all of the time.. and water does not count as part of your 5-a-day...

I wouldn't drink a smoothie if I was thirsty either - too icky.

Think the petition is a bit wrong-headed tbh. Try the original stuff - fruit. And maybe water.

yes i DO want to eat an apple if i am thirsty

and why on earth should people avoid tax on prepared drinks if they can't get organised to take a bottle of tap water out with them (which frequently I can't tbh but why should this excellent source of tax funds be removed because I'm a ditz)

would have more sympathy for campaign to restore public water fountains

except i wouldn't touch them with a barge pole as would assume my delightful fellow-citizens had weeed on them and were then going to film me drinking from it in order to put the result on YouTube

Dont want to sound pedantic either but they also tell us to drink 2 litres of water a day, dont they? Personally id be sick if i drank that much, but thats because part of the 2 litres is supposed to come from the water in salad and fruit

Oh dear.

Mumsnet is so very exacting.

Can't you see what I am getting at? WE make smoothies.. WE drink water... BUT... doesn't it make sense to make the shop-bought stuff cheaper so that people who DON'T make them (or haven't done on THAT occasion) will consider healthier alternatives than pop??

yes, i agree with you when you put it that way shiny, but i still think it confuses the issue of what 5 a day is really about...

...and the shop bought smoothies still have tons of sugar or sweetners in them i bet... [runs for cover]

Yes, I do see what you mean.

Still not going to join in, as I swore off all internet petitions after that fake Amnesty International one some years ago.

And I do think the health value of smoothies per se is pretty questionable - that's one of the issues to me.

Hmmm, I'm not a huge fan of (bought) smoothies and juices. But it seems weird that you'd have to pay VAT on smoothies and juice, but not on crisps.

i like the innocent people they have done well for themselves but i agree that the health benefits are not as great as might be imagined

i do like their smoothies but i have given them up for health reasons!

NQC, exactly my point. And I rarely do online petitions either. But these offical ones can make a difference and you get emailed the offical response from TB when there is one.

have you seen the rubbish on the epetition site?

The only answer would be to make fresh produce very, very cheap.

There is nothing in an innocent smoothie except fruit. Ditto Sainsburys apple & mango juice.

I gave them up because of trying to lose weight and my teeth...I decided food was better for fibre, these were too easy to drink as extras and the acidic effect on teeth and gums is scary...although they are additive free those health worries bothered me enough

I was going to post that Jan. That's where the term "innocent" comes from of course.. it really is just the price that is unhealthy..

they are unhealthy if you are trying to lose weight as they are so easy to drink to excess and also if between meals a problem for teeth and gums

ok, glad to hear they only contain fruit (no preservatives or anything?!). We don't have them here in Spain hence my ignorance...