My worry would be that this pushes people to buy the “diet” or “sugar free” versions.. Which are pumped full of things that are just as bad if not worse than the sugar.. It’s a difficult decision.. Do you go for glucose – natural sugar at its simplest, fuel for the body.. Downsides; digested by amylase in the mouth causing acid erosion, increases insulin levels in excess and can lead to diabetes – in excess.

Or sucralose – 1 part sugar:2 parts chlorine – which is not supposed to be consumed.
Sodium Saccharin which is made of coal tar and similarly should not be consumed.
And Aspartame, aspartic acid (a neurotoxin) and methanol (wood alcohol, causes blindness), breaks down into formalin and formaldehyde (both carcinogens) in digestion..

Sadly, the only safe option is reducing the junk and going back to real food.. It’s disgraceful that it is cheaper to live on processed muck than it is to feed your family good healthy whole (organic) foods.

There must be a few people guzzling a LOT of fizzy drinks to pull this stat up to that level! There are loads of us who take their whiskey neat.

It’s not just fizzy drinks itsfizzy sweets fruit juices ice pops etc etc are particularly bad for the enamel of teeth. It’s a number of products combined that cause tooth problems. Tackle this at young age I. E parents and schools the % given is particularly high.

That won’t deter teens another euro on the price still wouldn’t stop some of them buying that crap….

5 cent tax per 100ml of pepsi would soon dampen consumption

Dentists looking to protect the nations teeth?maybe they should stop supporting the toxic levels of fluoride in our water supply.

That woman’s 2 teeth are black. Health labels would be good, not cause they’d deter a 15 year old from buying a coke on their lunch break ( won’t work), but because it would be at least a small step in showing these sugar zombie corporations that were onto them. And I hate the individual responsibility argument- If you’ve been brought up drinking this filth everyday then how can you be expected to ‘undrill it out if your brain’. Everytime you open the bottle and hear the fizz, your liver and every other cell in your body cringes.

As a dentist and member of the Irish Dental Association IDA I find it hypocritical that my professional body is calling for a sugar tax when they clearly support links to the same industry on their website – http://www.dentist.ie/links/. Wrigleys may have created a website for dentists but the majority of its products have added sugar – Skittles, Starburst, Juicy Fruit etc. In 2008, Wrigleys merged with Mars Incorporated who sell Mars, Twix, Snickers, Milky Way and M&Ms. Meanwhile, many dentists feel increasingly uncomfortable about the links between their professional organisation and a sugar industry which contributes to tooth decay and suffering in so many Irish children.

I reckon the new energy drinks are the worst, and not just for teeth.

“Dentists call for public health warnings on soft drinks” Never mind that, there should be a public warning on all dentists! Have you seen what they charge?

dentists join call with pharmacies to end a cartel. a really bad, pervasive cartel.

then the law profession joins in. then there is a recognition that pharmacies are the olive oil sellers locally, extracting the last insane penny, screaming when the prices are compared the the UK, because that is bad for business.

then the law profession screeches again, then the pharmacies, then the dentists.

then we realise we have black limpets built into the republic, and we might as well rip them off unless we enjoy getting suckled dry by a few, amoral, cosseted professions.