Food strategy calls for £3bn sugar and salt tax to improve UK’s diet

Report says changes in eating habits must be accelerated to meet targets on health and climate

Ministers are being urged to levy a 3bn sugar and salt tax as part of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to break Britain's addiction to junk food, cut meat consumption by nearly a third and help tackle climate change.

The government-commissioned National Food Strategy, drawn up by the restaurateur Henry Dimbleby, says the UK population's malfunctioning" appetites and poor diets - fuelled by consumer and manufacturer's reliance on processed food - place an unsustainable burden on the NHS and contribute to 64,000 deaths each year.