Soft drinks industry levy: the ‘milkshake tax’

The threshold also will be lowered to 4.5g of sugar per 100ml.  A lower 4g sugar threshold was initially proposed in a consultation earlier in 2025 but has been rejected following industry feedback on the difficulties of reformulating drinks below this threshold. Whilst the Treasury estimates that the reforms will raise £130m, the Government is encouraging drinks manufacturers to use the 2-year implementation period to reformulate their recipes below the revised threshold, meaning the measures may fail to produce the revenue anticipated – as was the case when SDIL was first introduced in 2018. The changes are due to come into force from 1 January 2028.

Authored by Philip Harle.