Ben Amies-Cull: Sugar reduction—a bold contribution to addressing preventable illness

The UK government’s sugar reduction programme has been described as “world leading” among the increasing number of policies that target reducing sugar consumption around the world. This programme was announced in 2016 and challenged the food industry to work with Public Health England to achieve by 2020 a 20% reduction in the sugar content of the foods that—together with sugary drinks—make up 50% of children’s intake of free sugars. These foods, such as cakes and biscuits, also make up a large percentage of adults’ sugar intake, so the policy could also have important health benefits for adults.