Health campaigners from Give Up Loving Pop (Gulp) have welcomed the broadcast this week of ‘Sugar Rush’, a new documentary from Jamie Oliver which explores the devastating impact that sugar and sugary drinks are having upon the nation’s health.
Featuring shocking scenes including the extraction of multiple teeth from young children and emotional interviews with type 2 diabetes patients who have had limb amputations, Sugar Rush does not make for comfortable viewing.
But this only emphasises the urgent need for a tax on sugary drinks and other actions to curb sugar consumption (particularly in light of recent Government advice to reduce sugar intake) according to Robin Ireland, Director of the Gulp campaign:
“Well done Jamie Oliver for bringing the sugar debate to prime time television. As Jamie says, it’s time for government to step up in the face of the human and economic costs of dental care, type 2 diabetes and obesity.”
“This damage is preventable. It can’t be left to the individual to make the right choice and cut back on sugar whilst being bombarded with the huge marketing campaigns of the sugary drinks and processed food industries.”
“This is why here at Give Up Loving Pop we are supporting Jamie’s call for a duty on sugary drinks and this is why we have been campaigning to inform the public about the health harms associated with sugary drink consumption.”