Soft drink tax comes into force in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom applies from this Friday (6) a tax on sugary drinks to reduce sugar consumption among youth and childhood obesity, which continues to grow in the country.
"Our teenagers consume on average the equivalent of a bathtub full of sugary drinks each year, which contributes to the worrying growth of obesity in the country," said the Secretary of Public Health, Steve Brine, in a statement.
The new tax "will help reduce sugar consumption, while sports programs" for children and the distribution of breakfast in schools, said.
On the drinks that contain between 5 and 8 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters, the Government imposed a fee of 8 cents per litre.
The rate reaches 24 cents per liter for drinks that have more than 8 grams of sugar per 100 ml.
According to data from the British Government, a third of children entering high school in England are overweight or obese.
"We want to convince the manufacturers to modify their recipes and reduce the amount of sugar in their drinks," added the Secretary of the Treasury, Robert Jenrick.
More than half of the manufacturers acted in this regard after the new tax was announced two years ago. But some of the biggest, such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola, not changed the composition of their drinks