The effects of minimum unit pricing for alcohol on food purchases: Evaluation of a natural experiment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

On the 1st of May 2018 Scotland became the first country to introduce minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol sales. The objective of this study is to identify the effects of this policy instrument on food purchasing by evaluating a natural experiment.

Methods

Longitudinal analysis compares regions with similar characteristics but differing exposure to MUP (Scotland and the north of England). Secondary data from the Kantar Worldpanel on itemised purchases between April 2017 and April 2019 provided a total sample of 8051 households. The outcomes analysed are weekly household expenditure (£s) and purchase volume (grams), both overall and disaggregated to 16 product categories.

Results

Following the introduction of MUP, total household food expenditure in Scotl

SUBMITTER: Kopasker D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9310105 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature