Sugar

Lord Flight Excerpts

Monday 24th January 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

The noble Lord makes a really important point: it cannot just be about fiscal policy; it has to be across a whole range of different areas, including education and prevention. Indeed, one of the things that the NHS is looking at for the future is making sure that we focus more on prevention rather than cure—not to put cure aside; clearly, we have to deal with people who are ill. At the request of the Government, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition has undertaken an extensive evaluation of the evidence, looking at all the measures that we could possibly take to reduce sugar consumption.

[Lord Flight (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, raises an important issue. Obesity is now a major UK health problem, and excess sugar consumption is a major cause, with significant sugar content in too much of our food. I confess to being somewhat of a sugar addict myself—corrected by my wife, but I still love chocolates and three spoonfuls of sugar in my coffee.

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Lord Flight (Con)]

The solution here is surely to bring in sugar substitutes.

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

I am not sure that I heard the last word. Was it substitutes?