Study Advocates Penny-Per-Ounce Soft Drink Tax

A recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and American Heart Association claims that a penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages would reduce consumption by 15 percent among adults ages 25 to 64 years. Y. Claire Wang, et al., “A Penny-Per Ounce Tax on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Would Cut Health and Cost Burdens of Diabetes,” Health Affairs, January 2012. Researchers apparently used data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (2003-06) to estimate that, between 2010 and 2020, the tax would “prevent 2.4 million diabetes person-years, 95,000 coronary heart events, 8,000 strokes, and 26,000 premature deaths, while avoiding $17 billion in medical costs.” In addition, the scheme would purportedly raise $13 billion in annual tax revenue.

In particular, the study notes that the “low price of these beverages, along with their mass marketing, has undoubtedly fueled their widespread overconsumption by both adults and children,” who allegedly drink as much as 13 billion gallons per year. “If the tobacco tax history is any parallel, the current discussion of taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages could represent an early development in the broadened use of taxes to promote health and decrease health costs,” conclude the authors. See Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health Press Release, January 10, 2012.