NEW YORK, Jun 02 (Reuters Health) - Putting a small tax on soft drinks,
candy, and other snack foods nationwide could raise over $1 billion a year for
health promotion campaigns, without significantly affecting the price or sales
of these items, US researchers suggest.
"With obesity rates soaring and the costs of diet-related diseases in the
stratosphere, it is essential that government fund major campaigns to promote
healthful diets and physical activity," stated Dr. Michael F. Jacobson from the
Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, DC. "One way to obtain
funding is to apply small taxes to foods that undermine health."
Jacobson and colleague Dr. Kelly D. Brownell of Yale University in New
Haven, Connecticut, reviewed programs in 19 states and cities--including
California, New York, and the city of Chicago--that currently levy such taxes on
soft drinks, chewing gum, candy, and/or snack foods such as potato chips and
pretzels. They discovered that small taxes on these items are generating
millions of dollars each year, but the state and city governments are not
putting the money into public health campaigns.
"We estimate that a national tax of 1 cent per 12-ounce soft drink would
generate about $1.5 billion annually. Similarly, taxes of 1 cent per pound of
candy, chips and other snack foods, or fats and oils, would raise about $70
million, $54 million, and $190 million, respectively," the authors write.
Jacobson and Brownell point out that because such small taxes would not
significantly affect the price of these goods, consumers would not oppose them.
A recent poll showed that 45% of adults surveyed were in favor of this kind of
1-cent tax.
"Health officials often wish to sponsor nutrition and other health promotion
programs but are hampered by lack of funding," the team notes in the June issue
of the American Journal of Public Health, journal of the American Public Health
Association.
The researchers point out that even large organizations like the National
Cancer Institute (NCI) have only small budgets for health promotion. The NCI's
5-A-Day campaign, which encourages people to eat more fruits and vegetables,
costs about $1 million a year. The soft drink industry alone spends 600 times
that amount on advertising each year, the report indicates.
"The soft drink and snack food industries oppose and have campaigned against
special taxes on their products," Jacobson and Brownell explain. The authors
suggest that small taxes are "more politically feasible and still could generate
significant revenues to support health measures."
Jacobson and Brownell cite government statistics estimating that up to half
a million people die each year from cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes
caused in part by poor diet and lack of physical activity. These diet-related
illnesses cost the nation over $71 billion annually.
"We suggest that public health professionals consider recommending snack
taxes as a means of funding healthy eating and physical activity programs,"
Jacobson and Brownell conclude. "Such programs could result in better health and
lower healthcare costs."
