Sugar Tax

As a type 1 with 55years + experience, I rely on original Lucozade for the more serious hypos, and very occasionally, it has been the difference between recovery and going into a coma. I keep 350ml bottles in strategic places like our kitchen, by the bed and in the car. As everyone knows, you can get lucozade into yourself (as long as you are concious) so much quicker than munching Dextose tablets. My concern, is not so much about a possible price increase (as I don't use lots) but that the manufacturer might reduce the sugar in the product. I will write to the manufacturer, and I urge anyone concerned to do the same.

As an aside; do any who use Lucozade wish there was a see-through strip down the side of the plastic bottle to give an idea of how much you are gulping?

Oldvatr said:

You guys with the hypo's. You are using the wrong stuff: Lucozade is a wimp's drink
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35831125

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actually you are slightly mistaken with the analogy of lucozade being a wimp's drink
Lucozade is the one of the purest forms of glucose available as a liquid over the counter( natural body sugar) and the carbohydrate content ( which is what we D's measure in terms of raising our BG ) is actually 17.1 carbs per 100ml ( the added sugar only makes up the 8.71 as you have stated )

I always keep lucozade in the house for hypo's - just in case

Charliewh said:

As a type 1 with 55years + experience, I rely on original Lucozade for the more serious hypos, and very occasionally, it has been the difference between recovery and going into a coma. I keep 350ml bottles in strategic places like our kitchen, by the bed and in the car. As everyone knows, you can get lucozade into yourself (as long as you are concious) so much quicker than munching Dextose tablets. My concern, is not so much about a possible price increase (as I don't use lots) but that the manufacturer might reduce the sugar in the product. I will write to the manufacturer, and I urge anyone concerned to do the same.

As an aside; do any who use Lucozade wish there was a see-through strip down the side of the plastic bottle to give an idea of how much you are gulping?

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Yes, that worried me too. I heard on the news that manufacturers are being encouraged to reduce sugar in drinks. Worrying for quick hypo treatments.

Also, although my children rarely have fizzy drinks, I'd rather they had sugar than artificial sweeteners.

I hope manufacturers continue to make proper sugary drinks as well as lower/no sugar ones. I'd like a choice.

In comparison, full sugar Coke has 10.6g of sugar per 100g, yet some of the drinks sold in coffee chains like Costa Coffee can contain 12-15g of sugar per 100g.

chloegeek said:

Yay!

I still find myself curious as to what the government defines as a fruit juice and what they define as a soft drink and what they do with stuff in between (Entirely from an intellectual standpoint) not trying to be argumentative or anything, just curious!

I'll probably look it up later for the sake of knowing

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Fruit juice in this instance is defined as either Fresh Natural Fruit Juice with nothing added like Tropicana, or fruit juice from concentrate, anything with water added to juice and any sugars added such as fruit juice drinks, which are not natural sugars, will be taxed, qmost of the named juices you see for children and adults are drinks not natural, so unless cartons with Pure squeezed Juice or Fruit juice from concentrate, everything else will be taxed, that also includes Lucozade, and Sports drinks, which has been mentioned as used by diabetics. Diet Coke and similar that have no sugar will be tax free, but diet drinks with sugar in them or which isn't natural will be taxed. I'm sure we will see small outlets adding it to all.

azure said:

Yes, that worried me too. I heard on the news that manufacturers are being encouraged to reduce sugar in drinks. Worrying for quick hypo treatments.

Also, although my children rarely have fizzy drinks, I'd rather they had sugar than artificial sweeteners.

I hope manufacturers continue to make proper sugary drinks as well as lower/no sugar ones. I'd like a choice.

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To be honest, up until very recently, I've felt the availability of soft drinks without glucose, to be a god send. I'm probably talking 30+ years or even more. You can take a drink when socialising and not worry about it causing major change to your glucose. Quite coincidentally, in recent months, I've taken to drinking tap water, but I still think the availablility of glucose-free drinks, is on balance, a great help.

WITH REGARDS TO THE GOVERNMENTS NEW SUGAR TAX -- I HOPE IT STOPS CHILDREN GETTING LIKE ME I DONT THINK IT WILL BUT I WILL LIVE IN HOPE --------------------------- MY STORY--------------------------------------------------------------ANYONE FEEL FREE TO SHARE THIS IN THE HOPE THAT SOME OF THE MANY KIDS DRINKING IT OR PARENTS BUYING IT TO HAVE A QUITE LIFE ACTUALLY READ IT AND IT HITS HOME AND THEY CUT IT OUT
12 years ago I was ADDICTED (no other word to explain it) TO BOTH COCA COLA AND RED BULL I was drinking up to 4 ltrs of coke a day and 1 to 2 litres of red bull - went to Lanzarote for 2 weeks - drank 1 ltr of coke on the plane - and thought this has got to stop - bought 1 - 500 ml bottle on route to apartment and then put it on the table - wife put it in fridge I got it out back on the table and told her to leave it there - The next 4 days were the worse in my life I was sitting in 40 degree heat wrapped up in towels actually shivering - got that bad the emergency paramedics were called - they applauded what I was doing and basically left me to it after putting a lot of fluids in me - got up on day 4 and was totally fine - to this day I have not dared to touch either one again - it has come back to haunt me as I was drinking in excess of 1/2 a KILO of sugar a day and now type 2 diabetic so beware THAT WAS ALSO AROUND 2500 CALORIES A DAY (my total daily allowance)

If worried about what to take when having a hypo, stick with a 200ml small carton of Orange Juice (or other types of fruit) from concentrate, as these only have natural sugars and contain 20g of Carbohydrate in each 200ml carton, regardless of manufacturer or supermarket, less calories than Lucozade, cheaper to, and plenty of other alternatives. If blood sugar has dropped to 2mmol/ml one carton will bring you safely back up, then you can take some slower released carbohydrate item to stop it dropping back again. Many Diabetic Clinics now don't advise these products as the sugar content has been reduced with no warning, unless you check each bottle. Same goes for many a Diet drinks, whatever you use though check the sugar content, whether natural like fruit juices, or otherwise, be safe out there.

Please also remember if driving and on Insulin you must have a minimum blood glucose reading now of 5mmol/ml to legally drive and most clinics say not below 5.5. Don't loose your licence over this, and do frequent stops on a long journey to check and have things in the car to bring it back up. The guideline is not to drive for 40 minutes after hypo, as long as back above the 5 level.

G'day folks. Unfortunately I only have time to drop in rarely these days. This tax caused me to make the time, mainly because I am concerned our own politicians, always seeking extra revenue, may follow suit. I wrote this back in 2012 when there were suggestions it may happen here: Taxes For Our Own Good

In brief, taxes of this sort never do more than raise revenue. They have a minimal effect, if any, on public health. Despite that our government in Oz is now considering taxing cigarettes to be over $40 (£20) a pack. That will do nothing for lung cancer but will be a boon for government revenue - and cigs smugglers.

At least your mob are only targetting sugared soft drinks at the moment. Once they see the money rolling in a tax on 'bad' fats will not be far behind.

In that post I mention the Danish fat tax. Later I was pleased to see that their politicians had the good sense to reverse that: The Fat Tax: Dare I say I Told Them So?

Geri said:

Im not in favour of the sugar tax, I often need 2 sips of Lucozade to get rid of a hypo, mind you, a few pence on top of a bottle doesnt bother me. Sugar in water doesn't do the trick because it could be too far to walk to the kitchen, and then it has to dissolve. Fruit juice doesn't work quickly enough for me - very insulin sensitive and long term type 1 (46 years) on really low doses but often hypo.

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You should be measuring rather than two sips which means you have no idea of amount of Carbohydrate going in. If very small sips I wouldn't think you are taking enough to bring you around without returning to hypo shortly afterwards. I have similar problem as you, but on a Insulin pump, and had this disease for over 50 years now. If having frequent hypos you are still having to much insulin or balance of Insulin/carb ratio is wrong. Consult with your Diabetic Clinic or Specialist Diabetes Nurse, and do more frequent blood tests to monitor when and what might be causing them. No insult meant by advice, having had it for many years, but sometimes a fresh look at it could help. No one should be having that frequent amount of Hypos, if you are, you could be a good candidate for a Insulin pump, much more controllable with, and if you do t want to eat you don't have to, as you only put in Bolus Insulin when you eat.

azure said:

Yes, that worried me too. I heard on the news that manufacturers are being encouraged to reduce sugar in drinks. Worrying for quick hypo treatments.

Also, although my children rarely have fizzy drinks, I'd rather they had sugar than artificial sweeteners.

I hope manufacturers continue to make proper sugary drinks as well as lower/no sugar ones. I'd like a choice.

Click to expand...

To be honest, up until very recently, I've felt the availability of soft drinks without glucose, to be a god send. I'm probably talking 30+ years or even more. You can take a drink when socialising and not worry about it causing major change to your glucose. Quite coincidentally, in recent months, I've taken to drinking tap water, but I still think the availablility of glucose-free drinks, is on balance, a great help.

Johndotcom said:

If worried about what to take when having a hypo, stick with a 200ml small carton of Orange Juice (or other types of fruit) from concentrate, as these only have natural sugars and contain 20g of Carbohydrate in each 200ml carton, regardless of manufacturer or supermarket, less calories than Lucozade, cheaper to, and plenty of other alternatives. If blood sugar has dropped to 2mmol/ml one carton will bring you safely back up, then you can take some slower released carbohydrate item to stop it dropping back again. Many Diabetic Clinics now don't advise these products as the sugar content has been reduced with no warning, unless you check each bottle. Same goes for many a Diet drinks, whatever you use though check the sugar content, whether natural like fruit juices, or otherwise, be safe out there.

Please also remember if driving and on Insulin you must have a minimum blood glucose reading now of 5mmol/ml to legally drive and most clinics say not below 5.5. Don't loose your licence over this, and do frequent stops on a long journey to check and have things in the car to bring it back up. The guideline is not to drive for 40 minutes after hypo, as long as back above the 5 level.

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Points well made. Guess it comes down to what you are confident with, and what works for you. A serious hypo is not the time to be experimenting with remedies is it?!

whitesnake said:

People will pay if they really want sugary drinks.

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Yep, dietary pleasure trap. Same reward circuit as any drug.

intelligenteating said:

Yep, dietary pleasure trap. Same reward circuit as any drug.

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Talking of dietary pleasure traps.. How are you?

chloegeek said:

I guess it more just limits our options in regards to what is affordable as a part of that kit. Fruit juice isn't taxed so juice is still fine and so are a number of other sugary alternatives. I am in full support of where the money is going, but at the same time I'm a little bummed that the drinks are going up in price. (Not in the least because I'm sure the drinks companies will hike the prices of their diet beverages to match the sugared equivalent with tax applied.)

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I am wondering about things like Jam, which is the must sugary product you can get. Fruit sugar we are told, is used in a different way by the body, than refined white sugar. Not sure how true this is. Honey seems to be a bit different as well, seemingly because it is digested in a different manner. Does any one have a high reading after ingesting a bit of honey? I am going to try taking readings to check if honey affect me or not. We are told that we are all different in our metabolic behaviour, and also that for various reasons it can change from time to time. For instance mashed potatoes are absolutely deadly for me, but a bit of bread and honey with cream, I can get away with! Perhaps if the honey theory was correct, manufacturers of sweet goods could use this to replace the refined sugar. Does anyone agree?

gillianwrdl said:

I am wondering about things like Jam, which is the must sugary product you can get. Fruit sugar we are told, is used in a different way by the body, than refined white sugar. Not sure how true this is. Honey seems to be a bit different as well, seemingly because it is digested in a different manner. Does any one have a high reading after ingesting a bit of honey? I am going to try taking readings to check if honey affect me or not. We are told that we are all different in our metabolic behaviour, and also that for various reasons it can change from time to time. For instance mashed potatoes are absolutely deadly for me, but a bit of bread and honey with cream, I can get away with! Perhaps if the honey theory was correct, manufacturers of sweet goods could use this to replace the refined sugar. Does anyone agree?

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Don't we have a "bit of an issue" with the lack of bees at the moment..?

Hiring a P.I to find "Beemo" could be a bit costly with "expenses"..!

ladybird64 said:

Watching George Osborne at the moment, he's bringing in a sugar tax on the soft drinks industry. This should be interesting..

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To be perfectly honest I cannot see that tax making much difference, Haribo's contain more sugar per packet than 3 bottles of full fat coke as I call it. It is the culture that has to change kids playing out Parents not buying the kids expensive clothes that can get dirty when they are playing out/ buying them mobiles that does everything they want so they just sit there. All sugar can be burned off with a good level of exercise. People say that deprived arias are the worst but I have to disagree where you live makes no difference get out play out and have fun is the answer

Jim

makes me wonder what they will find to tax next

Well @JimRoden didn't get sugary drinks as a child and was always out and about (was never home) but I still got it. I still got T2. It wasn't those years as a child it was more those years of eating sugar once I grew up. If items containing sugar cost more then may be I wouldn't have become an addict. My addiction started through cycling and needed the energy but once I stopped I still carried on with the sugar (addicted to it) If it had cost more then maybe it would have been different. Who knows but I can't blame anyone except myself

ladybird64 said:

Watching George Osborne at the moment, he's bringing in a sugar tax on the soft drinks industry. This should be interesting..

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It's a start, sadly I wont be around to see if it works as desired, assuming it'll take decades to see any long term effects. What about the low fat stuff with added sugar to improve the taste? Can't have everything I suppose.

chloegeek said:

I guess it more just limits our options in regards to what is affordable as a part of that kit. Fruit juice isn't taxed so juice is still fine and so are a number of other sugary alternatives. I am in full support of where the money is going, but at the same time I'm a little bummed that the drinks are going up in price. (Not in the least because I'm sure the drinks companies will hike the prices of their diet beverages to match the sugared equivalent with tax applied.)

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But fruit juice requires more to be taken (10g per 100 ml as opposed to 15g in lucozade), lucozade is without a doubt the best hypo treatment i have found in my 22 years as a T1 (diagnosed at 3yrs). I don't like the idea of having to pay an extra 25p per bottle to treat my condition.