Sweetened and sugary drinks, sweet snacks. Following the recent FAO report on ultra-processed foods-to which both categories belong-two new scientific studies are reported. In JAMA Internal Medicine and British Medical Journal (BMJ), further insights about the premature mortality associated with consumption of these foods and the effectiveness of sugar tax to reduce their intake.
Sugary (and ‘sweetened’) drinks and premature mortality, the study in 10 European countries
The cohort study Association Between Soft Drink Consumption and Mortality in 10 European Countries, published 3.9.19 in JAMA Internal Medicine, was conducted as part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). (1) From 1.1.92 to 32.12.2000, among 451,743 individuals-average age 50.8 years, 71.1% women-in 10 European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). (2)
The aim of the research was to examine the correlation between total consumption of soft drinks-sweetened and sweetened with artificial sweeteners (3)-and a possible increase in premature mortality. An analysis of peculiar importance, given the prevalence and frequency of consumption of such beverages. And the underestimation of the public health risks associated with this. (4)
‘Increased consumption of soft, sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages has been associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality. Consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks has also been associated with death from circulatory diseases; consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks has been associated with death from digestive diseases‘.(5)
The survey found significantly increased risks, in particular, among regular consumers of sweetened and/or sugary soft drinks (two or more glasses per day), compared with occasional consumers (one glass per month, or less).
Sugar tax, a public health measure
The soda tax -i.e., the tax on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages-has already demonstrated a favorable impact in the various countries where it has been applied in recent decades. Not only in terms of consumption reduction but especially in terms of product reformulation. So much so that today soft drinks in England have on average half as much sugar as those identical references sold in Italy.
The sugar tax-i.e., the tax proportionate to the amounts of sugar in widely consumed ultra-processed foods (e.g., sweet snacks, snacks, soft drinks)-may, moreover, be even more useful in achieving public health goals. Effectively stimulating manufacturing industries to revise the recipes of their products so as to improve their nutritional profiles. A quantum leap that can contribute, to a substantial degree, to improving the population’s diet.
The study ‘Potential impact on prevalence of obesity in the UK of a 20% price increase in high sugar snacks: modelling study‘ was published 4.9.19 in the British Medical Journal. (6) Aiming to estimate the potential impact–onbody mass index(BMI) and the prevalence of obesity, in the British population–of a 20 percent increase in the price of sugar-rich snacks. And 2a surprising result of twice the impact of the soda tax. For the simple reason that the largest sugar intakes in the diet of the surveyed population come precisely from sweet snacks.
A 20 percent tax on sweets would reduce the average individual’s energy intake by 8900 kcal each year, according to the researchers. Already after the first 12 months it would then be achieved:
– An average individual body mass reduction of 1.3 kg,
– The decrease in the obesity rate in the United Kingdom by 2.7 percent. With an additional, appreciable advantage.
‘The results of this study suggest that increasing the price of high-sugar snacks could be an important contributor in reducing health inequalities caused by diet-related diseases.’ (7)
Increasing the price of junk food, the study points out, is likely to have a more favorable effect on low-income households, where higher rates of obesity and related diseases are still found. Indeed, taxing sugars in ultra-processed foods would force industries that do not wish to lose market share to reformulate products(food product improvement). Thus encouraging the less affluent segments of the population to choose more nutritionally balanced foods over the more expensive junk food.
Last but not least, Italian politics.
Newly appointed Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti in turn debuted an inspirational statement, taxing snacks and sugary drinks. An idea that garners the broadest support not only from the writer but especially from millions of parents, pediatricians, the scientific community and civil society. Of all those who care about the health of Italian children and youth, which is seriously threatened by obesity, overweight and diseases related to poor nutrition precisely because of junk food.
‘I would like purpose fees‘, for example on carbonated soft drinks and snacks or taxes on airline flights that pollute. The idea is: I do an activity that pollutes (flying), do I have the wrong power system? I put a small tax and with that I fund useful activities, schooling and healthy lifestyles‘ (Lorenzo Fioramonti, minister of education, to Corriere della Sera, 19.9.19. See footnote 8)
The Minister of Education can demonstrate his seriousness by including ‘health education in schools’ in the curriculum. It will suffice to effectively implement what was decided on 17.1.19 in the State-Regions Conference. He will then have to confront Health Minister Roberto Speranza to ensure that the sugar tax idea is not mowed down by the very ‘friendly fire’ (of Big Food). As happened in April 2017, when former minister Maurizio Martina thwarted the excellent idea of Colleague Pier Carlo Padoan.
#sugartax, #Égalité!
Dario Dongo and Sabrina Bergamini
Notes
(1) Cohort studies-essential in epidemiological research, in medicine as in other fields (e.g., psychology, social sciences, ecology)-are a form of longitudinal study (in the context of observational research). They are carried out on a larger or smaller sample of individuals, so-called cohorts, who share one or more characteristics (e.g., date of birth, area of residence), or an experience (e.g., consumption of certain foods, exposure to air pollutants). Which are subject to periodic analyses, aimed at assessing the evolution and impact of risk factors, over a longer or shorter period of time
(2) Amy Mullee, Dora Romaguera, Jonathan Pearson Stuttart. (2019). Association Between Soft Drink Consumption and Mortality in 10 European Countries.
JAMA Intern Med. Sept. 3, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.2478, at https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2749350
(3) On so-called artificial sweeteners, see also previous articles https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/dolcificare/dolcificanti-un-mondo-di-additivi and https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/dolcificare/dolcificanti-zero-calorie-effetto-paradosso
(4) Note well that among the 521,330 research participants, 69,587 (13.3%) were excluded. In particular, those who were excluded from the sample were:
– reported early-stage diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer,
– Have reported implausible dietary intakes, i.e., lacking information on soda consumption at follow-up stages
(5) See study cited in note 2, abstract. Informal translation by the writers
(6) Modeling studies(modelling studies) use mathematical models to understand, define, quantify and simulate scenarios that may result from changes in a system. Such as the adoption of health and/or tax policies. Models are developed through analysis of events over time and across populations, based on data relevant to the context of the assessment, drawn from primary or secondary sources
(7) Pauline F D Scheelbeek, Laura Cornelsen, Theresa M Marteau, Susan A Jebb, Richard D Smith. (2019). Potential impact on prevalence of obesity in the UK of a 20% price increase in high sugar snacks: modelling study. BMJ 2019;366:l4786. doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l4786
(8) See article ‘
School, newly appointed minister Fioramonti: tax on snacks to pay teachers more
‘. Evening Courier, 9/19/19
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Journalist. Consumption, rights, nutrition, social, environment. Head of Consumers Help. She collaborated with ResetDOC, Il Riformista, La Nuova Ecologia, IMGPress.
