Sugary drinks, such as full-calorie soda, are usually cheaper per ounce than milk, says a team of researchers from Drexel University that looked at beverage prices in 1,743 supermarkets in 41 states. The difference was most pronounced in neighborhoods with a higher concentration of black and Hispanic residents.
On average, milk cost 160 percent more per ounce than soda in the Drexel study. The lead author of the study, doctoral student Dave Kern, said soda taxes, such as the 1.5-cent levy approved by the Philadelphia City Council, would bring the price of soda into alignment with milk prices and make healthier beverages more attractive to shoppers.
Associate professor Amy Auchincloss, a co-author, said cheap soda can disproportionately impact the health of lower-income households. “As a society, access to very cheap sugary drinks should not be our focus. They’re not necessary for well-being and, in fact, can have harmful consequences.”
In a summary, the authors say neighborhoods with higher proportions of minority group members “may be at greater risk of higher soda consumption due to more affordable prices, in absolute terms and relative to the price of milk.”