Nadiya Hussain has admitted feeling skeptical about how effective the sugar tax will be, comparing the levy to tax added to cigarettes.
The charge, which sees companies and consumers pay extra tax on sugary drinks, was introduced in April.
Discussing it, the 2015 ‘Great British Bake Off’ winner told the BBC: “If [consumers] want a sugary drink, they’re still going to buy it, which means they’ll have less money, so I don’t know who that’s helping.
“If you’re worried about your health then you just won’t buy it.”
“The prices of cigarettes have gone up since I can remember, because my dad smokes, and it hasn’t stopped him from smoking,” she added. “So how’s it going to stop people from drinking sugary drinks?” she said.
“I think sometimes some things are over-thought, and I think when people tell you ‘you’re obese’ and ‘this needs fixing’ or ‘we’re taking this away from you’ or ‘we’re making you pay more money for this’, I don’t know how that fixes the problem.”
Calling for families to focus on eating fresh healthy food and exercising, she added: “I think it’s personal responsibility. I can only speak for my own family, and we eat cake. And we eat cheese, we eat chocolate.
“But we also all go cycling and exercise and that’s my responsibility as a mother to teach my children to make the right choices.”
A study previously claimed that the tax could make 47% of consumers change their purchasing habits and cut back on sugar-loaded soft drinks.
One person who has been a vocal supporter of the move is Jamie Oliver, who has also suggested the tax could be extended to cover milk drinks.
