Jamie Oliver’s campaign to introduce a new tax on sugary drinks has reached 126,995 signatures – way beyond the 100,000 mark needed for the issue to be considered for parliamentary debate. Impressive work, eh?
Jamie launched the petition after becoming horrified about the effects of sugar as he filmed his recent documentary Sugar Rush.
He is hoping to convince the government to introduce a 20% per litre tax on all sugary drinks, with the money raised going towards fighting childhood obesity and diet-related diseases.
That way, not only will the price hike deter families from buying sugary drinks, but the money raised would also go back into battling the problem.
The petition was posted online after his latest documentary Sugar Rush was aired on Channel 4 last week. The programme followed Jamie as he investigated the effects of sugar on the nation’s health and featured graphic images of a five-year-old boy having his rotten teeth pulled and NHS patients who’d had limbs amputated because of Type-2 diabetes.
Following the programme, viewers signed the online petition in their droves, with the Downing Street website eventually crashing (yep, crashing) under the strain.
The petition reads: ‘Studies show that soft drinks with added sugar are the largest single source of sugar in the diets of UK school children & teenagers. Many health experts are increasingly concerned about sugars contribution to weight gain & type-2 diabetes.Tooth decay caused by sugar is the most common reason that children aged 5-9 years are admitted to hospital & type-2 diabetes is costing the NHS around £9 billion a year. It's clear action is needed
‘Experts believe a tax of just 7p per regular-sized can of soft drink with added sugar could generate £1 billion per year.’
Jamie tweeted about breaking the all-important 100,000 barrier – just two days after his programme aired - ‘WE DID IT!! To the 100,000 + loverly (sic) people in the UK THANK YOU for signing and supporting the petition.’
Jamie has already implemented an extra 10p charge on all sugary drinks sold at his restaurant and the food chains Leon and Abokado have already done this also.
While the government are not obliged to now debate the matter in the House of Commons, the incredible speed of the petition makes it a hard issue to ignore.
If you want to sign the change.org petition click here.****..