Chef Sid Sahrawat with his daughter Zoya. Sid says soft drinks are 'positively toxic'.
Doug Sherring
Chef Sid Sahrawat with his daughter Zoya. Sid says soft drinks are 'positively toxic'.
Doug Sherring
Two of New Zealand's best chefs have backed Jamie Oliver in his decision to slap a 'sugar tax' on his own restaurants.
However opinions were divided when it came to adopting Jamie's concept in their popular Auckland eateries.
The British celebrity chef has revealed he will add a 10p charge (about 20c New Zealand) for every drink containing added sugar, with the money raised going to fund better education about healthy eating for children.
British Chef Jamie Oliver plays with his son Buddy. Jamie has introduced his own 'sugar tax' in protest.
Photo / Getty
Award-winning NZ chef, Sid Sahrawat, told the Herald online, that, as a father himself, he shared Jamie's passion for the evils of fizzy drinks.
"I wouldn't want any of my children drinking soft drinks they are positively toxic," he said.
Sid would consider introducing a similar concept in his esteemed eateries, Cassia and Sidart.
"I don't think that 20c on top of the cost would deter our customers from ordering fizzy drinks, however I see that the initiative has more of an educational potential as well," he said.
"I like the idea of the money raised going to charity. We do not have many young children as our customers in either restaurant but hopefully parents getting the message will filter to the children as well."
However, a blanket 'sugar tax' would be too harsh, he said.
"You can't label it 'sugar tax' as all sugar is not necessarily bad. It would be going too far if the tax was implied on say cakes and desserts."
Sid hoped the New Zealand government would consider introducing a tax on sugary drinks in an attempt to improve the nation's health.
"We already tax cigarettes as we have now learned how bad they are and how much it costs our health system.
"I don't see the difference between the cost of cigarette smoking on health care and sugary drinks that have been linked to obesity on health care."
Fellow award-winning chef, Nic Watt, backed the idea of a sugar tax in NZ, but said it wasn't necessary for his menu at Masu.
Chef Nic Watt at home with his children Lucas and Kiana. Watt would back a sugar tax.
Photo / Doug Sherring
"It would really help in the supermarket to easily define added sugar products that are simply more expensive and therefore left out of the shopping trolley," he said.
"(However), at Masu we have a lot of fruit juice and muddles juice ... options, so I don't feel we would be able to contribute a lot."
Oliver imposed the tax this week to highlight the dangers of consuming too much sugar, as well as sending a message to British Government to take urgent action on childhood obesity.
The levy, which Oliver hopes will raise around £80,000 in the first year, will mean a 330ml glass of Coca-Cola at a Jamie's Italian would cost £2.65 (NZ$6).
