Lawmakers in Mexico are ready to soften the groundbreaking one-peso-per-liter soda tax that took effect at the beginning of 2014 and is credited with reducing consumption of sugary drinks, says the Guardian. The finance commission in the lower house of Mexico’s Congress approved a tax of one-half peso on low-calorie beverages as an incentive to drink companies to offer lower-calorie options. “But public health groups and some opposition politicians accused lawmakers of caving to pressure from drinks manufacturers and taking an incorrect approach to lowering calorie consumption,” said the Guardian.
An official at the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) said the overall effect will be to weaken the soda tax, which boosted the price of full-calorie sodas by about 10 percent. Low-calorie soft drinks are not popular in Mexico compared to demand for their sugar-sweetened counterparts. Mexicans drink more than 43 gallons of soda per person annually, according to one estimate.
Preliminary results from a study by INSP and the University of North Carolina show a 6-percent drop in soda consumption in Mexico in 2014. The results have been hailed as an example of how to combat obesity and chronic diseases related to it. Mexico’s soda industry says the impact of the soda tax is limited – a sales drop of 2.5 percent and a reduction of 6.2 calories a day in the average Mexican’s diet, said the Guardian. The industry says consumption levels appear to have stabilized.