A taxation on tobacco, alcohol... and sugar?

According to this, specifically sugary drinks affect our health negatively as they contain high amounts of sugar and calories. We consume them in high quantities and children and young adults are particularly at risk. The report suggests a targeted taxation of products containing sugar in order to curb this negative development by taxing these products by at least 20%, while supporting a subsidization of fresh produce at the same time.

Naturally, this sugar tax is not without critics. They argue that it will not necessarily lead to a change in attitude towards sugary products. Instead, the proper health education would prove a more sustainable approach. For many countries, the opinion prevails that such measures restrict people’s freedom of consumption. Six years after its introduction in 2011, Finland abolished their tax on sweets recently, as it violated the rules of the free market.

Still, medical professionals mostly argue in favor of these tax policies. Specifically, pediatricians demand a reduction of the sugar in food, an obligation to label unhealthy food, a ban on the advertising of beverages containing sugar and the introduction of the much discussed sugar tax. Their reason? Children and teenagers are especially unable to independently reflect on their diet and its effect on their health. In addition to Finland, several other countries have also set a positive example. After Mexico and Hungary introduced a sugar tax, the consumption of sweets and snacks dropped by a double-digit percentage. Since 2015, the US city of Berkeley, California, raised a tax for sweetened drinks of approximately 30 cents per liter, resulting in a decrease of consumption by up to 21%.

According to the WHO report, the resulting tax revenues are a positive side effect for those countries, who introduced the tax on unhealthy food: The Finnish confectionery tax, which has since been abolished, generated an additional annual income of 109 million euros. Billions could flow into the public funds of densely populated countries, which in turn could be invested into health and preventive measures and the subsidization of healthier food.

Last but not least, similar measures that promoted a change in attitude, such as the taxation on tobacco and the ban on smoking in restaurants, has had an effect in several countries already. In many countries, people now smoke less than they did a few years ago, which has significantly reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease. It is quite reasonable to expect similar positive effects on obesity, diabetes mellitus and associated diseases with the introduction of a taxation on sugar.

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