It's no secret that Britain has an obesity problem. One official has described childhood obesity in the U.K. as a "national emergency." In an effort to combat the problem, the government has just slapped a new tax on sugar, directly aimed at lowering the consumption of sugary drinks. In Scotland, that has already had an impact on the country's beloved sugar bomb of a soft drink, Irn Bru . Few people outside of Scotland have heard of Irn Bru ( pronounced "Iron Brew" ) , but it's so popular at home that it's been called the country's "other national drink," after the whisky known to much of the drinking world as Scotch. Bright orange cans or bottles of Irn Bru seemed to be everywhere on a recent trip to Glasgow. What does it taste like? One website describes it as "a cross between bubble gum and cream soda." Faced with a new tax that could force them to hike prices in a competitive soda market, the maker of Irn Bru decided instead to cut the sugar in half. These days Scottish shop owners
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