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Sugary Drink Taxes Roundup

Another study shows Mexico’s tax is helping to reduce consumption and big news from Seattle’s mayor, West Virginia, Philadelphia and Santa Fe—learn more here.

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Sugar_Beverages.jpgFrom Mexico -- In a new study released February 22, 2017 in Health Affairs, researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill examined changes in purchase of taxed and untaxed beverages over the first two years of the tax, 2014 and 2015. They found a 9.7 percent decline in sugary drink purchases in 2015, yielding an average reduction of 7.6 percent over the two-year period. Households at the lowest income level had the largest decreases in purchased of taxed beverages in both years. Purchases of untaxed items increased 2.1 percent during the study period. 

This past week, stories have popped up covering  sugary drink taxes – both proposed and implemented. 

West Virginia:

Santa Fe:

Seattle:

Philadelphia:

  • In a new op-ed, Dr. Kenneth Margulies—Professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and board president of the American Heart Association of Philadelphia—draws on his personal, firsthand experience as a cardiologist to make the case that Philadelphia’s sugary drink tax is a “game-changer” that over the long-term will improve health and save lives. http://bit.ly/2kIPK2p