WASHINGTON—USDA voiced its attitude on the recent soda tax debate, saying adding a financial burden to sweetened-beverage purchases is a good thing. In a recent report, “Taxing Caloric Sweetened Beverages: Potential Effects on Beverage Consumption, Calorie Intake, and Obesity,” USDA officials said a tax-induced 20-percent price increase on caloric sweetened beverages could cause an average reduction of 37 calories per day, or 3.8 pounds of body weight over a year, for adults and an average of 43 calories per day, or 4.5 pounds over a year, for children.
Given these reductions in calorie consumption, they estimated the reduction of obesity levels in America. Their study results showed a decline in adult overweight prevalence (66.9 to 62.4 percent) and obesity prevalence (33.4 to 30.4 percent), as well as the child at-risk-for-overweight prevalence (32.3 to 27.0 percent) and the overweight prevalence (16.6 to 13.7 percent).
The authors, Travis A. Smith, Biing-Hwan Lin, and Jonq-Ying Lee, said consumers would be more likely purchase and consume nontaxed beverages, such as bottled water, juice and milk if sweetened beverages had an additional 20-percent tax.
They noted the link between high U.S. obesity rates and the overconsumption of added sugars, largely from sodas and fruit drinks, has prompted public calls for a tax on caloric sweetened
While USDA believes the rates of child and adult obesity and overweight would decline, they note actual impacts would depend on many factors, including how the tax is reflected in consumer prices and the competitive strategies of beverage manufacturers and food retailers.