As you may well know, on the 6th April 2018 the Government will introduce a new soft drinks industry levy which will apply to producers and importers of soft drinks containing added sugar. What is the sugar tax?A £520m levy on sugar-sweetened drinks to combat child obesity. Why a sugar tax? An official report by Public Health England [PDF] says the NHS could save £15bn and almost 80,000 lives in a generation by weaning the public off its sweet tooth. Today’s children and teenagers are consuming three times the recommended level of sugar (adults fare almost as badly). How does it affect us? The levy applies to products which contain added sugars and a total sugar content of more than 5gm per 100ml. The lower rate of 5gm – 8gm per 100ml attracts a tax of 18 pence per litre whilst the higher rate of 8gm and over is 24 pence per litre. Many products have already been re-formulated to fall beneath the threshold and pure fruit juices and milk based products are excluded. The following indicates those products affected by the new SUGAR TAX.