Chef Jamie Oliver Will Charge You Extra if You Order a 'Sugary Drink' at His Restaurants

He’s back.

Culinary health crusader Jamie Oliver will charge you extra money if you want to order a “sugary drink” at his restaurants.

Earlier this year, Oliver said he thinks sugar should be taxed like “anything else that can, frankly, destroy lives.” And now, Oliver is putting his money where your mouth is and adding a surcharge to the sugary drink items on his menus.

Oliver says that he expects the surcharge to raise £80,000 ($126,657 USD) over the next year. The chef will donate the money to Sustain, a charity that “support’s children’s health food initiatives across Britain.” Oliver adds, “I’ve seen first-hand the heart-breaking effects that poor diet and too much sugar is having on our children’s health and futures… so we have to start here.”

I’m ok with this. If Oliver wants to make business decisions for his own business, that’s great. It’s when Oliver wants the government to make decisions for your business that I have a problem. People will have a choice as to whether they pay extra for their fancy alcoholic drinks at an Oliver establishment or go down the street and get their boozy sugar fix on the cheap.

He told the Sunday Times:

I truly believe that by joining together on this issue, we not only send a powerful and strong message to government but we also have the potential to make a long lasting legacy that could ripple across the world.

I’ve seen first-hand the heart-breaking effects that poor diet and too much sugar is having on our children’s health and futures.

Soft drinks are the biggest single source of sugar among school-age kids and teenagers and so we have to start here.

Leave the government out of it, Jamie.

I’m going to leave you with a photo of Jamie Oliver making his — presumably healthy — chocolate panettone bread and butter pudding from his Jamie’s Comfort Food book.