Assessing the impact of the Barbados sugar-sweetened beverage tax on beverage sales: an observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The World Health Organization has advocated for sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes as part of a broader non-communicable disease prevention strategy, and these taxes have been recently introduced in a wide range of settings. However, much is still unknown about how SSB taxes operate in various contexts and as a result of different tax designs. In 2015, the Government of Barbados implemented a 10% ad valorem (value-based) tax on SSBs. It has been hypothesized that this tax structure may inadvertently encourage consumers to switch to cheaper sugary drinks. We aimed to assess whether and to what extent there has been a change in sales of SSBs following implementation of the SSB tax.

Methods

We used electronic point of sale data from a major grocery store chain and

SUBMITTER: Alvarado M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6354371 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature