Mexican tax on sugar-sweetened beverages
The Mexican tax on sugar-sweetened beverages is working!
At a press conference in Mexico City on June 16, the Nutritional Health Alliance (Alianza por la Salud Alimentaria) highlighted the National Institute of Public Health and University of North Carolina's preliminary results demonstrating the Mexican SSB tax is working to reduce purchase of SSBs and to combat malnutrition and obesity in Mexico.
In summary, the preliminary results show:
- Average reduction of 6% in the purchase of taxed sugar-sweetened beverages during 2014.
- This reduction increased over the course of the year to reach 12% by December 2014.
- Household sugary drink purchase reduced across all socioeconomic levels.
- The reduction was greatest among the lowest socioeconomic group--households with the fewest resources reduced their SSB purchases by 9% on average during 2014 and achieved a reduction of 17% by the end of the year--having the greatest direct impact on future health for this sector of the population, with the greatest economic burden of the disease.
Follow and participate in sharing the news: #ImpuestoalRefresco from the Alliance's press conference.
FYI: In Mexico, the Alliance will continue to call for:
- An increase to a 20% SSB tax to have greater impact on health.
- Elimination of VAT tax on bottled water in containers smaller than 10 liters to make potable water more economically accessible than SSBs.
- Full use of SSB tax revenue to install water fountains in schools and public spaces, as well as for integral prevention policy.
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