Mexico: Sugary-Drinks Tax Is Left Intact
Source: NYTimes
Mexico’s congress blocked an attempt to roll back part of a tax on soft drinks Thursday, responding to an uproar from public health advocates.
The tax of about 10 percent, imposed two years ago, was intended to attack Mexico’s obesity epidemic by raising the price for sugar-added drinks.
Last week, the lower house of congress proposed to cut the tax in half for some drinks with less sugar. Consumer groups, along with national and international health groups, urged Mexico’s Senate to restore the full tax, which it did Thursday, and the lower house quickly followed suit.
By leaving the tax in place, Mexico “assured that this tax will remain a model for similar measures in the U.S. and around the world,” said former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York., whose philanthropy supports the Mexican groups that pushed for the tax.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/world/americas/mexico-sugary-drinks-tax-is-left-intact.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
I never knew about this til now. Good for Mexico. It dropped soda-sugar consumption by 10% so far.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/16/mexico-soda-tax-sugar-obesity-health
Mexico enacts soda tax in effort to combat world's highest obesity rate Jan. 16, 2014
Health officials in the United States look to Mexico's new law as an experiment in curbing sugar consumption
A groundbreaking tax on sugar-sweetened beverages recently passed in Mexico could provide the evidence needed to justify similar laws across low- and middle-income countries and cities in the US, experts believe.
Campaigners and public health experts are watching closely to see what impact Mexico's tax has on consumption. Mexico, where 32.8% of the population is obese, is now the country with the biggest weight problem in the world, according to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation, overtaking the United States. The impact on health has been serious – 14% of the population has diabetes. Rates of high blood pressure, which can lead to stroke and heart attacks, are also high.
So far, there is not conclusive evidence from any country in the world that raising the price of sugar-sweetened drinks will affect obesity levels, but the Mexico experiment is on an unprecedented scale. Although the tax was set at 10% per litre rather than the 20% campaigners wanted, it will affect a huge number of people. Every year, Mexico's 118 million people drink 163 litres of soda each, or nearly half a litre a day. According to the National Institute of Public Health, a 10% tax should reduce that to 141 litres per year, preventing up to 630,000 cases of diabetes by 2030.
Other countries in Latin America, including Ecuador, Peru and Chile, are working on their own measures to reduce the marketing of soft drinks to children, and to improve labelling so families can know how much sugar and calories they contain. “Mexico will have a domino effect,” said Dr Simon Barquera of the Institute. Public health academics, students, consumer activists and politicians were all following developments and sharing what they are doing in their own countries
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forest444
(5,902 posts)"Black Ops director, please."
"I'm sorry, sir. Mr. Thugmeier is out at the moment."
"This is the CEO of Coca-Cola, goddammit!! Put me through this instant!"
JoeyT
(6,785 posts)but far from the whole problem, or even most of the problem. A big part of it is the inability to buy anything that isn't loaded up with extra fat and sugar, especially if you're poor. Unfortunately, you can't really just tax poor people into eating healthy when they can't afford the healthy stuff to start with.
ErikJ
(6,335 posts)You sound like a lobbyist for Big Sugar which uses the same tactics Big Tobacco did.
Soft drinks tend to be the worst, so is a good and simple place to start. It isnt a food it is a beverage. Here is a list of the worst offenders.
How to Minimize Sugars in The Diet from good article http://authoritynutrition.com/how-much-sugar-per-day/
Avoid these foods, in order of importance:
Soft drinks: Sugar-sweetened beverages are awful, you should avoid these like the plague.
Fruit juices: This may surprise you, but fruit juices actually contain the same amount of sugar as soft drinks!
Candies and sweets: You should drastically limit your consumption of sweets.
Baked goods: Cookies, cakes, etc. These tend to be very high in sugar and refined carbohydrates.
Fruits canned in syrup: Choose fresh fruits instead.
Low-Fat or Diet Foods: Foods that have had the fat removed from them are often very high in sugar.
Dried fruits: Avoid dried fruits as much as possible.
JoeyT
(6,785 posts)ErikJ
(6,335 posts)Who say a carbon tax would hurt the poor the most. So nothing is done dooming the entire planet.
Response to ErikJ (Reply #5)
JoeyT This message was self-deleted by its author.
puzzledeagle
(47 posts)Never EVER drink the tap water there
forest444
(5,902 posts)But besides those three, yes. You're not exaggerating in the least.
My father nearly died while visiting Rio some years back. My parents were renting a timeshare in the posh Barra da Tijuca suburb (where the water is safe); but while visiting the downtown area he let his guard down and accepted a glass of tap water.
Above all, if you or anyone you know find yourself in that situation make sure a loved one is keeping a close eye on the patient - even in an expensive private clinic - because Brazil is also home to one of the principal illegal organ markets in the world.
If you're young/early middle-age, healthy, and white, you may become a commodity the minute you walk into a clinic. They'll ask you what you're allergic to, and then proceed to give you a massive shot of precisely that. I kid you not.
Having said that, it's a real shame, because Rio is incredibly beautiful. A lot like Honolulu, but even grander.
