The Chief Medical Officer for England stated that it may be necessary to impose a tax on sugar to reduce the obesity rate in the population.
Sally Davies told a House of Commons committee that unless the government takes a tough stance against food and beverage manufacturers, they will continue to reformulate products, with junk food remaining "the same old thing in a new bottle."
She said she believes "research will confirm that sugar is addictive, and we may need to tax sugar."
The food industry stated that it has already reduced the sugar content in its products.
"A generation with a shorter life expectancy than their parents"
Davies told the House of Commons Health Committee, "Our next generation is overweight and lacks exercise, and their life expectancy may not be as long as our generation."
"They may be the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents."
She said, "Being overweight has now become a common phenomenon, and we must change this situation."
"We are not trying to attack the self-esteem of overweight people, but to make them realize that this may endanger their own physical health."
"Sugar is addictive"
Davies said she believes research may confirm that sugar is addictive, and the public must be educated to be careful about their sugar intake.
Statistics show that the British consume 5.727 billion liters of sugary soft drinks annually, and a tax of 20p per liter would generate over 1.1 billion pounds in total tax revenue.
Previously, research conducted in the United States found that imposing a 35% tax on sugary drinks resulted in a 26% drop in sales.
The UK government hopes to have food and beverage manufacturers label nutritional information on the front of products rather than on the back.
