The sugar tax on fizzy drinks starts TODAY - and this is how much it will cost you

Every soft drink containing added sugar will be hit by the tax including Coke, Red Bull and Irn Bru.

The tax was announced in March 2016 and will tax the soft drinks industry for total sugar content over 5g per 100ml.

Sheffield shoppers will now have to pay an extra 18p or 24p more a litre in a move which is estimated to raise around £520 million a year for the government.

If a drink has sugar added during production, ready to drink or drunk with diluted water and has a content of 1.2 per cent alcohol by volume or less then it is liable to be taxed.

According to the levy, sugar can be classed as sucrose, glucose, fructose, lactose or galactose.

The levy comes as a new survery reveals a tax on unhealthy drink or food would encourage just under half of Britons to cut back on the products.

Analysts Mintel found it is likely to have an effect on 47 per cent of consumers, with that figure rising to 53 per cent of 16 to 34-year-olds.

Mintel associate director of food and drink Emma Clifford said: "Although Britons have ingrained healthy eating intentions and have upped their efforts to cut down on theirsugar intake, the majority of British adults are overweight or obese and Britain is ranked the sixth fattest nation in the world."

The research found low sugar content is the single most important factor consumers look for when seeking out healthy food, named as the top consideration by 52 per cent of shoppers, ahead of five-a-day claims (48 per cent) and low fat content (45 per cent).

Ms Clifford said: "A war is being waged against sugar by the Government and the media. This sustained attack over a number of years has had a big impact on how consumers view this now-demonised ingredient, what they think constitutes healthy food.

"It's encouraging that Britons are making more of an effort to eat more healthily, though they continue to enjoy permissible indulgences.

"However, there is potential for this overarching healthy eating trend to be undermined by consumers' incomes being squeezed, together with the perception that healthy food is expensive.

"Nevertheless, there are still opportunities for retailers to provide more shopper support in making healthier and price savvy choices, while simultaneously promoting customer loyalty."