Celebrity chef warns ‘sugar is the next tobacco’

Sugar is “definitely the next evil” and should be taxed the same way as tobacco, celebrity chef and UK restaurateur Jamie Oliver told the Daily Mail on Friday.

He said foods high in sugar are causing a public health crisis and that Britain should follow France in taxing sugary drinks.

“Sugar’s definitely the next evil. It’s the next tobacco, without doubt, and that industry should be scared. And it should be taxed, just like tobacco and anything else that can, frankly, destroy lives,” he said.

The chef also spoke out about exhaustion he had suffered as a result of a hectic daily routine which prompted a change in his lifestyle.

“It’s not as if I felt bad at the time. Or I didn’t think I felt bad, but with hindsight I didn’t look great. I didn’t feel … alive.”

“I was functioning, don’t get me wrong, but looking back there was this feeling that I had to rev up to do it. I was exhausted all the time – and no wonder,” he said.