Research
Adherence
Decreasing the tax rate on low-sugar or artificially sweetened beverages (L-SSBs) leads to a significant increase in their purchase volume, potentially offsetting the health benefits of reduced high-sugar beverage consumption.
When designing tax policies, lowering taxes on diet drinks can lead to a surge in their consumption. Policymakers must consider if this substitution aligns with broader health goals, as artificial sweeteners may have their own health implications.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The volume of household purchases of L-SSBs increased 10.7% (95% CI 7.5%–13.9%)
Why this rating
Robust longitudinal data showing clear substitution patterns.
Source
Chile’s 2014 sugar-sweetened beverage tax and changes in prices and purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages: An observational study in an urban environment
Juan Carlos et al. · PLoS Medicine · 2018
DOI 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002597
cohort · n=2000Cited 185×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Implementing a small incremental increase in sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax rates (e.g., 13% to 18%) results in only small price increases and small reductions in SSB purchases, which is unlikely to significantly reduce obesity or noncommunicable diseases.Good
- Higher socioeconomic status (SES) households exhibit a greater reduction in high-sugar beverage purchases in response to SSB tax increases compared to lower SES households.Good
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