LONDON: A tax on unhealthy drink or food, such as the soft drinks levy, would encourage just under half of Britons to cut back on the products, a survey has found.
As the sugar tax comes into effect, analysts Mintel found it is likely to have an effect on 47 per cent of consumers, with that figure rising to 53 per cent of 16 to 34-year-olds.
Regionally, 53 per cent of Londoners are the most likely to be deterred by a tax, dropping to fewer than four in 10 of consumers living in Scotland.
However, 75 per cent of consumers say that clear nutritional information on product packaging would encourage them to cut down on unhealthy food and drink, rising to 81 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds.
Almost the same number – 73 per cent – claim rewards for making healthy choices such as supermarket points would encourage them to eat more healthily.
More than half of Britons say they would cut down on unhealthy products if there were tighter restrictions on advertising junk food.
Just 11 per cent say they strive to eat healthily all the time, although the proportion of those who try to eat well most of the time has risen four percentage points to 52 per cent over the last two years.
Mintel associate director of food and drink Emma Clifford said: “Although Britons have ingrained healthy eating intentions and have upped their efforts to cut down on their sugar intake, the majority of British adults are overweight or obese and Britain is ranked the sixth fattest nation in the world.”
