Sweet snacks tax better than sugar-sweetened beverages tax

Sugar taxes have been imposed on sugary soft drinks across a number of countries, but many have overlooked the potential benefits of taxing sweet foods. Research published in the BMJ Open suggests that increasing the price of chocolate, confectionery, cakes and biscuits may actually lead to greater health gains than similar increases in the price of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford compared how consumer demand for sweet snacks and SSBs may change in relation to potential price increases, with specific analysis on different income groups.

Increasing the price of SSBs by 10% has been shown to reduce purchases by 6 to 8%. Researchers suggested sweet foods also produced similar results, estimating that increasing the price by 10% may reduce purchases by around 7%. However, the researchers noted that sweet food taxes may have the added benefit of impacting the sales of other foods, decreasing the purchase of soft-drinks by 0.6 to 0.8%, biscuits and cakes by 1.2% and savoury snacks by 1.6%.

This provides an insight into purchasing patterns which could be used to help shape future policies. For example, increasing the price of chocolate snacks was associated with significant reductions in purchases across most food categories, whereas increasing the price of cakes both reduced the demand for biscuits and increased the demand for chocolate and confectionery by 0.7%.

Lead author Professor Richard Smith from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said taxes on SSBs are “likely to generate a small, but significant, reduction in their purchase”, whereas taxes on sweet snacks “could bring even greater health gains and warrants detailed consideration”.

This research is the first to provide a direct analysis of the relationship between price increases and demand for sweet snack foods across different income groups. The study looked at the expenditure data of 32,249 households in Great Britain from January 2012 to December 2013, and classified food and beverages into 13 groups. Purchasing was examined overall and then compared across low-, middle- and high-income households.

Price increases were estimated to have the greatest effect on the low-income group, who spend a large proportion of their income on food and beverages. Increasing the price of biscuits by 10% was linked to a 3% reduction in the purchase of chocolate and confectionery for the low-income group, a 3% reduction in cake-type snacks for the middle-income group, but did not seem to have an impact on the high-income group. Increasing the price of chocolate and confectionery had a similar effect across all income groups.

Sweet snacks accounted for 6 to 7% of the total food expenditure across all income groups and overall, they all consumed more sugar from sweet snacks (17.1 g) than SSBs (6.9 g). Therefore, the researchers concluded that policies which attempt to reduce the intake of sugar and improve public health should extend beyond SSBs. The results suggest that targeting sweet snacks may have a more significant impact on health due to its potential knock-on effect of reducing the purchase of other unhealthy foods.

Co-author Professor Susan Jebb from the University of Oxford said: “It’s impossible to study the direct effects of a tax on snack food on consumer behaviour until such policies are introduced, but these estimates show the likely impact of changes in the price. These snacks are high in sugar but often high in fat too and very energy dense, so their consumption can increase the risk of obesity. This research suggests that extending fiscal policies to include sweet snacks could be an important boost to public health, by reducing purchasing and hence consumption of these foods, particularly in low-income households.”

However, the authors recognised the study did not account for any purchases that were consumed outside the home, such as in restaurants, which are more likely to apply to higher-income households.

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