The review goes on to make recommendations for policymakers in the UK, where adult obesity is said to have reached 64 per cent in 2021 at a cost to the country’s National Health Service of around £6.5 billion per year. Policies that include calorie labelling in restaurants and restrictions on where certain foods can be displayed in supermarkets are already in place in the UK, as is a tax on the sugar content of soft drinks – something that yielded, on average, a 46 per cent drop in sugar content among products liable for the tax between 2015 and 2020. However, there is a clear need to go further to address health concerns in the UK and the Imperial review adds substance to the argument for extending tax measures. “The evidence that people in lower‑income groups benefit the most from these taxes suggests that they can also play a role in reducing health inequalities,” said Elisa Pineda, who authored the paper while working with colleagues at Imperial College Business School’s Centre for Health Economics & Policy Innovation. EB “An eight per cent tax on unhealthy foods led to an 18 per cent drop in their sales at supermarkets and up to 40 per cent at other retailers”
EVIDENCE POINTS TO POWER OF TAX IN EFFORTS TO CURB OBESITY
In the case of Mexico, an eight per cent tax introduced in the Latin American nation on non-essential, energy-dense foods, including sweets, sugary cereals and salty snacks, led to an 18 per cent drop in their sales at supermarkets and a fall of up to 40 per cent at other retailers. Low‑income groups were the biggest consumers of these types of foods before the tax and demonstrated the largest reductions in spending on these unhealthy foods once it was in place. Pointing to findings from North America and New Zealand, the review suggests that the impact of taxes on unhealthy foods can be heightened when they are coupled with subsidies for healthy food.
SCHOOL Imperial College Business School COUNTRY UK
ncreasing the price of unhealthy food is a simple but effective way to encourage
I
healthy eating, according to a new peer-reviewed analysis from Imperial College Business School. The paper assessed 20 studies from countries including Mexico, the United States, Canada, Hungary, Denmark, Singapore the Netherlands and New Zealand.
10 Business Impact • ISSUE 2 • 2024
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