Taxes on sugary beverages are a tool for reducing obesity and chronic disease such as diabetes, says a WHO report that also advocates subsidies to encourage people to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Prevalence of obesity worldwide has doubled since 1980 and now includes more than half a billion adults, while 39 percent of adults are overweight.
The UN agency recommends that adults and children limit their daily intake of sugar to less than 10 percent of their total calories as a way to reduce the risk of becoming overweight or obese, and fighting tooth decay. The new report, “Fiscal policies for diet and the prevention of noncommunicable diseases,” is the result of a 2015 meeting by health experts and a review of studies on the effectiveness of taxes and subsidies on food.
“It was concluded that there is reasonable and increasing evidence that appropriately designed taxes on sugar sweetened beverages would result in proportional reductions in consumption, especially if aimed at raising the retail price by 20 percent or more. There is similar strong evidence that subsidies for fresh fruits and vegetables that reduce prices by 10–30 percent are effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption,” says a summary of the report.
Four U.S. cities — San Francisco, Oakland and Albany, Calif.; and Boulder, Colo. — will vote on soda taxes on Nov. 8. At issue in the California cities are referendums for a 1-cent-per-ounce tax patterned on the tax approved by Berkeley in 2014. Boulder voters will decide an initiative for a 2-cent tax on sugary beverages.
Grocers told the San Francisco Chronicle that they would not rise prices on other items to offset the impact of a tax on sugary beverages, contrary to the “don’t tax our groceries” advertisements from the beverage industry. “No retailer would ever do that,” said the owner of the Bi-Rite supermarket in San Francisco.
“If governments tax products like sugary drinks, they can reduce suffering and save lives,” said Dr. Douglas Bettcher of the WHO. “They can also cut healthcare costs and increase revenues to invest in health services.”
WHO experts said drinks and foods high in sugar often are the source of unneeded calories, especially for children and young adults. Lower consumption of “free sugars — sugar added to foods or naturally present in honey, syrup, fruit juice and fruit juice concentrate — and calories overall translates to better nutrition, says WHO. While it recommends a 10 percent limit on free sugars in the diet, WHO says there can be additional health benefit by reducing free sugars to 5 percent or less of the diet.
Obesity is linked to diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.
The new edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released in January, recommends a limit on consumption of added sugars to no more than 10 percent of daily calories. It is the first time the government suggested a limit. Americans get an average 13 percent of calories from added sugar. The revamped Nutrition Facts label, to be in full use in July 2018, has a separate listing for sugar added to foods during processing.