Sales fall after sugar-sweetened beverage tax is implemented

After a city tax on sugar-sweetened beverages was implemented in Berkeley, California, sales of those beverages decreased in the city, but increased in the surrounding area, according to a press release from PLOS.

Lynn D. Silver, MD, MPH, of the Public Health Institute, Oakland, Calif., and colleagues analyzed data on the sales of beverages and consumer spending at baseline and 12 months after the tax was implemented.

The researchers found that sales of sugar-sweetened beverages fell by 9.6%, whereas in the surrounding area, sales of these beverages rose by 6.9%. Additionally, water sales in Berkley rose by 15.6%, and other non-taxed beverages, such as unsweetened teas, milk and fruit juices, rose as well.

From baseline to 1 year, overall beverage sales increased, but consumers did spend more per transaction.

As the tax is paid by distributors, the researchers also studied how the levy was reflected in the price of the beverages at the store level. They found that the tax was reflected completely in large and small chain supermarkets and chain gas stations, but was partial in pharmacies and negative in independent stores and gas stations.

“These findings suggest that implementing a [sugar-sweetened beverage] excise tax was feasible and [sugar-sweetened beverage] sales fell concomitantly, while the tax captured revenue for obesity prevention and other societal goals,” the researchers wrote. “Whether observed changes in sales were related to enactment of the tax or other local activities cannot be definitively determined due to the observational design. However, the observation of price increases for [sugar-sweetened beverages] in two distinct data sources, the timing of those increases, and the patterns of change in taxed and untaxed beverage sales suggest that the observed changes may be attributable to the tax.”