THERE was mass panic on the high streets of Scotland’s cities, towns and villages yesterday as worried sugar-addicted Scots stockpiled cans and bottles of Irn-Bru after makers, AG Barr, confirmed they were to change the secret recipe.
Well, mass panic may be overstating it, but there was certainly surprise and a hike in sales of Scotland’s other national drink. The Cumbernauld fizzy pop manufacturers have been forced to cut the amount of sugar in Irn-Bru ahead of the Government’s new Soft Drinks Industry Levy coming into force in April.
What’s happening?
AG Barr’s spokesman says most people will not taste any difference when the new recipe, with 50 per cent less sugar, hits the shops later this month. But sceptical fans of the drink made in Scotland from girders aren’t taking the risk. And retailers have reported big surges in sales.
What do fans say?
IT seems they’re willing to take the hit and pay the extra tax, which would amount to about 8p on the cost of each can. Ryan Allen, who started the Hands Off Our Irn-Bru campaign, said: “It is a national treasure in Scotland and really is part of our culture with its unique taste, branding and marketing.
“It’s also well-known to alleviate the effects of a hangover and is many a persons’ craving, saviour or go-to drink after a night on the tiles. Don’t do it Barr – please have a rethink on this.”
And the company?
AN AG Barr spokesman said: “From January 2018 Irn-Bru will continue to be made using the same secret Irn-Bru flavour essence, but with less sugar.
“The vast majority of our drinkers want to consume less sugar so that’s what we’re now offering. We know that our loyal drinkers love Irn-Bru for its unique great taste and we’ve worked hard to deliver this.
“We ran lots of taste tests that showed most people can’t tell the difference – nine out of 10 regular Irn-Bru drinkers told us we had a good or excellent taste match.
“Most shoppers can expect to buy Irn-Bru with reduced sugar from later this month. Give it a try when it comes out.”
What is the sugar tax?
THE so-called sugar tax will see firms forced to pay the Treasury for drinks containing more than 5g of sugar per 100 millilitres. Irn-Bru currently has 10.3g of sugar per 100 millilitres. The new tax would see the North Lanarkshire drinks firm put an extra 24p into the Treasury’s coffers for every litre of original recipe juice they produce.
The levy was one of the final acts of George Osborne as Chancellor of the Exchequer, made during his final Budget in the spring of 2016.
Osborne promised that the tax would, in its first year, raise an estimated £520m.
Though a year later the estimated take for the Treasury had shrunk to £400m after soft drinks companies rushed to cut the sugar.
In answer to a written question in the Commons last month, the Treasury estimated that the Barnett consequentials coming to Scotland because of the tax would be £16.4m in 2017/18 and £36.7m in 2018/19, £44.8m in 2019/20.
Who else is affected?
UNLIKE Irn-Bru, Coca-Cola has refused to back down. Their original drink will continue to keep all 35g of sugar in each 330ml can. Full-strength Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Lucozade Energy, Dr Pepper, Fanta, Sprite, Schweppes Indian Tonic Water and alcohol-free shandy are all going to be hit by the tax.
In 2016, more than one in 10 children in Scotland aged between two and 15 was at risk of obesity, with a further 15 per cent at risk of being overweight.
COME ON – What’s the harm in a wee drink of ginger?
SINCE 1998, the proportion of children aged two to 15 at risk of being overweight has fluctuated between 28 per cent and 33 per cent.
Obesity has been described as one of the most serious public health challenges for the 21st century by the World Health Organization, while NHS England’s Simon Stevens has dubbed it “the new smoking”.
Still though, Scotland will remain the only country in the world where Coca Cola isn’t the No 1 drink.
Well, actually, that’s a bit of an urban myth ...
IT’S true, Coke isn’t No 1 in Scotland, but it’s also not No 1 in Cuba, where there’s been a trade embargo with the UK between 1960 and 2015. North Korea also not big fans of Coca-Cola.
Well they might be, but they can’t get it. And they’ve only recently started drinking it in Myanmar too.
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