Ministers urged to tackle scourge of sugar

Health and environmental groups have joined forces to urge the government to take action on the oversupply of sugar after research found UK production is nearly three times greater than the total needed to meet the entire population’s maximum daily intake.

Organisations including Feedback, British Dental Association, Sustainable Soils Alliance and Obesity Health Alliance have collectively written to the MPs Pat McFadden, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Laura Kyrke-Smith, national health mission champion, calling for a reduction in sugar supply as a public health and environmental priority.

In particular, they highlighted the risk from losing valuable topsoil during sugar beet harvesting. Topsoil is the upper layer of soil most rich in organic matter and microorganisms needed to grow nutritious and healthy crops and help store water, yet nearly half a million tonnes is being removed annually from UK fields during sugar beet harvesting, according to data from Feedback, with huge amounts being sold on to landscaping and construction companies by leading supplier British Sugar.

The overconsumption of sugar is also contributing to major public health challenges including obesity, tooth decay, type 2 diabetes and hypertension, the letter stated, noting how hospitals in England perform on average 119 tooth extraction operations each day on children and teenagers, costing the NHS more than £40m per year.

Campaigners expressed serious concern too over the Department of Business and Trade’s decision to maintain the autonomous tariff quota (ATQ) on raw sugar imports for 2025, which permits 260,000 tonnes of raw cane sugar each year to enter the UK tariff-free, saying the decision undermined the government’s own efforts to reduce sugar consumption.

The letter also raised concerns over speculation that Defra is considering granting another emergency exemption to use neonicotinoid pesticides on sugar beet crops that have been linked with a decline in bee populations and wider harm to ecosystem health.

“This country is drastically over-producing sugar to the clear detriment of the environment and our nation’s health,” said Jessica Sinclair Taylor, deputy director at Feedback. “Everything points to decisive action from the new government to tackle the vast oversupply of sugar, depletion of precious topsoil and huge cost to our overstretched NHS. That must start with government living up to its promises and banning the use of neonicotinoids to protect our soils, waterways and plants.”