Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Barbados Dr Arthur Phillips has reported a decline in the sale of carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages due to a tax on sugary drinks.
At the same time, there has been an increase in the sale of bottled water and non-sugary beverages.
The tax was introduced at 10 per cent in 2015 as the government faced a population with increasing rates of diet-related diseases such as diabetes.
It was increased to 20 per cent in April 2022.
“The Ministry of Health would have led on the [establishment] of a sugar-sweetened beverage evaluation committee. The membership of which would have included civil society, academia, both on the health and the economic side, as well as colleagues in the Ministry of Finance,” Phillips explained.
“That initial evaluation resulted in findings inclusive of academic publications and, in short, it indicated that the 10 per cent tax resulted in several things: one, a partial passing on of the increase, or partial absorption, I should say, of the increase an increased price, yes, and there was some decreased consumption.”
There was a 4.3 per cent drop in weekly sugar-sweetened beverage sales and a 3.6 per cent decrease in carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages sales.
Sales of non-sugar-sweetened beverages were up by 5.2 per cent and there was a rise of just over 7.5 per cent in bottled water sales.
Phillips said the impact of the tax at 20 per cent is ongoing.
“The areas that we are particularly looking at understanding and advising on relate to a tiering of the tax or the tax increasing with increasing levels of sugar content, as well as the issue of allocating at least some of the revenue to social programming for two reasons – one, in terms of additional revenue being available and two, also being able to help the public understand the reason for the tax and demonstrating to the public the tax being used for this purpose.”
The tax, according to officials, is aimed at tackling the growing burden of non-communicable diseases.
Because of high sugar content, drinking sugary drinks is associated with a significant increase in body mass index in children and weight gain in adults.
Excessive sugar intake also increases one’s risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.
The World Health Organization recommends a 20 per cent tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to effectively curb the consumption of these harmful drinks.
According to the Pan American Health Organization, a 20 per cent tax on sugar sweetened beverages was expected to reduce demand for sugary drinks by 24 per cent compared to a 4 per cent reduction for a 10 per cent tax.
