Sugar and salt tax looks doomed as Boris Johnson slaps down own expert’s idea

Boris Johnson has slapped down his own food expert’s idea for a sugar and salt tax just hours after it was proposed.

The Prime Minister “signalled” he is “not attracted to the idea of extra taxes” after a furious Tory backlash.

It comes despite his food tsar insisting the tax on sugary and salty snacks would only add £1 onto a £90 weekly shop.

Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of the food chain Leon, insisted his proposals for a sugar and salt reformulation levy would not hike up prices significantly for families.

Instead he said it would encourage food giants to “reformulate” their snacks to avoid being caught by the levy.

It was part of a much wider National Food Strategy which demands a major overhaul of the nation’s diet, including slashing meat consumption and GP pilots for prescribing fruit and vegetables.

But the Prime Minister slapped down the idea of a tax today. Mr Johnson told journalists: “I will study the report, I think it’s an independent report, I think there are doubtless some good ideas in it.

“We believe in tackling obesity, trying to help people to lose weight, promoting exercise and tackling junk food advertising and so on.

“I am not I must say attracted to the idea of extra taxes on hard-working people, let me just signal that.

“But I will study his report with interest”.

© Getty Images A tax on foods high in sugar and salt has been suggested

The Strategy warns that how and what we eat is contributing to 64,000 deaths a year in England and driving wildlife loss and climate change.

The so-called snack tax would raise up to £3.4bn for the Treasury per year, the report claims, which could be spent on a massive expansion of free school meals, funding holiday clubs and food support for poor families.

But the plan has triggered criticism from some industry groups that it could increase prices for consumers.

The Food and Drink Federation warned that cost increases could be passed onto shoppers as the sector faces continuing pressures from the pandemic.

Asked about the claims, Mr Dimbleby told the Today programme: “If you look at an average shopping basket for a family of 2.4, average family, is about £90 – £95 a week.

“If you take the worst case scenario, that might go up by a pound.”

Mr Dimbleby said the price of a Mars Bar was unlikely to go up as manufacturers could reduce the amount of sugar but products like Frosties would be more difficult to change.

“We do not believe for most things it will hike the price. What it will do is it will reformulate, it will make people take sugar and salt out,” he said.

“There is huge scope for reformulation. There may be some products that you can’t reformulate like Frosties, which is basically pure sugar, is going to be hard to reformulate right.

“But the question you have to ask then is, is the freedom to keep Frosties cheap worth destroying the NHS for?”