More US health experts called for taxing sweetened soft drinks on Wednesday, saying such taxes could fight obesity and be used to fund public health efforts.
New York health commissioner Thomas Farley, nutritionist Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, Kelly Brownell, an obesity expert at Yale University in Connecticut and others said the current taxes do not go far enough.
“We propose an excise tax of 1 percent per ounce [28g] for any beverages that have any added caloric sweetener,” they wrote in their proposal, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. “Much as taxes on tobacco products are routine at both state and federal levels because they generate revenue and they confer a public health benefit with respect to smoking rates, we believe that taxes on beverages that help drive the obesity epidemic should and will become routine.”
They said studies have shown taxes could cut consumption just enough.
“A tax of 1 cent per ounce of beverage would increase the cost of a 20-ounce soft drink by 15 to 20 percent,” they wrote.
They estimate that would lead to a 10 percent drop in consumption, or enough to affect weight.
“A consumer who drinks a conventional soft drink (591 milliliters) every day and switches to a beverage below this threshold would consume approximately 174 fewer calories each day,” they wrote.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated in December that a tax of US$0.03 on every 355 milliliter can of soda could raise US$50 billion over 10 years.
Brownell called for such a tax in April along with Farley’s predecessor, Thomas Frieden, who became director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in June.
“Currently, 33 states have sales taxes on soft drinks (mean tax rate 5.2 percent), but the taxes are too small to affect consumption and the revenues are not earmarked for programs related to health,”they wrote.
They noted that people are drinking more sweet drinks and the obesity rate is surging.
“In Mexico, intake of sugar-sweetened drinks doubled between 1999 and 2006 in all age groups,” they wrote. “Reducing caloric intake by 1 percent to 2 percent per year would have a marked impact on health in all age groups.”
The American Heart Association weighed in on the issue last month, recommending that Americans cut back dramatically on sugar.
Members of the beverage industry objected.
“We agree that obesity is a serious public health issue, but the solution put forth by these researchers simply won’t work. Reducing obesity will only be addressed through comprehensive solutions,” said Susan Neely, president and chief executive officer for the American Beverage Association. “Importantly, taxes will not teach our children how to live a healthy lifestyle.”
The researchers had anticipated the argument.
“Seat belt legislation and tobacco taxation do not eliminate traffic accidents and heart disease, but are nevertheless sound policies,” they wrote. “Opposition to a tax by the beverage industry is to be expected.”
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