Five reasons why every country should follow the UK in taxing sugary drinks

There has been a lot of talk lately about sugary drinks and whether taxing these is the right thing to do.  Should they really be treated like tobacco?  Cigarettes after all clearly kill people.  Is sugar really that bad?   Yesterday there was finally some action, the UK government released its budget and among the changes was introducing such a tax on sugary drinks.

The UK will join Mexico, France, Chile, the city of Berkley USA and others in introducing the ‘sugar tax’. And the likes of Australia, New Zealand and every other country should be doing the same. 

Here are my five top reasons why.


1. Sugary drinks provide no nutritional benefits and increase the risk of weight gain and chronic disease.

There are no other foods or drinks where this is so clear cut. Drinking sugary drinks increases our risk of weight gain and type 2 diabetes and rates of painful and expensive dental caries. At the same time sugary drinks don’t provide any vitamins, minerals or other nutrients (apart from sugar and water). Introducing a tax can help people cut back. 12 months after the sugar tax was introduced in Mexico sugary drink sales were down 12% and bottled water sales had risen.

2. A tax can raise much needed funding for obesity prevention in children.

Prevention programs for children and families in Australia are grossly underfunded and are regularly terminated after a few years. A tax on sugary drinks can be designed so that revenue raised can go into funding much needed sustainable programs to help ensure our children have a happy and healthy future.

3. A tax reduces the burden on people with this highest risk

In Mexico families with a low income had reduced their sugary drink purchases more than the general population. We know that low income households typically consume more sugary drinks than the rest of the population and so seeing a greater reduction is important for reducing inequalities in health. Those families that reduced their consumption of sugary drink now have a lower risk of dental caries and more opportunity to achieve a healthy weight. A great outcome!

4. A tax on sugary drinks is also great for education

Currently a bottle of water or a bottle of diet drink is about the same price as a bottle of sugary drink. If a tax was introduced the sugary drink would cost more than the water or non-sugar sweetened drinks, a useful reminder right at the till that the water is a healthier option.  

5. Sugary drink taxes drive reformulation

Introducing a tax on less healthy products is a great motivator for industry to create healthier options exempt from the tax. In the UK for example they are introducing a lower level tax for drinks with 5% sugar and a higher tax rate for drinks with over 8% sugar. This encourages beverage companies to make more drinks with less than 4% sugar. In the future we may walk into a convenience store and instead of the familiar wall of fizzy drink and a $5 bottle of water, we’ll be able to choose from a wall of healthier drink options. 

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In summary, there are many reasons why sugary drinks should be taxed, not just the obvious health reasons, but economic and social reasons too.  Our children deserve the best future possible and this is a very easy way to help them.