Health advocates say ‘Big Soda’ is fighting sugar tax
Advocates for improved health claim the beverage industry is engaged in a global campaign “to thwart government efforts aimed at reducing the consumption of sugary drinks”.
The Global Health Advocacy Incubator has released its report Sweetened Profits: The Industry’s Playbook to Fight Sweetened Beverage Taxes, “exposing the beverage industry's global campaign to oppose taxes on sweetened beverages”.
The Healthy Caribbean Coalition, based in Bridgetown, Barbados, alleges that “Big Soda's Playbook” is to block important public health policy for healthier societies.
Efforts to determine if Bermuda was affected by these efforts have not yet been answered.
Approached about this Thursday, the government spokeswoman for health has not yet been able to respond.
The HCC is a not-for-profit Caribbean non-communicable disease alliance of over 100 health and non-health civil society organisations, whose vision is to reduce death and disability from chronic diseases among Caribbean people.
The new GHAI report, the coalition says, exposes big soda's tactics to undercut sugar-sweetened beverage taxes worldwide.
The statement said the report comes at a crucial time when nations are grappling with soaring rates of diet-related non-communicable diseases.
It says: “The comprehensive analysis provided by GHAI demonstrates how the beverage industry, also referred to as Big Soda, uses a global playbook of strategies to thwart government efforts aimed at reducing the consumption of sugary drinks, a known driver of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and other serious health problems.
“These tactics undermine public health initiatives while also negatively impacting environmental sustainability.
“In January 2024, The Healthy Caribbean Coalition along with partners, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados, the Heart Foundation of Jamaica and the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network, launched the ‘See the Truth’ campaign, which in similar fashion, highlighted industry interference tactics deployed during the front-of-package labelling decision-making process.“
Verónica Schoj, vice-president, Food and Nutrition, GHAI commented: “While the global community is working towards creating healthier populations, Big Soda is using its influence to derail policies that could save millions of lives and billions in healthcare costs.
“Our report reveals the depth and breadth of the industry's efforts to protect its profits at the expense of public health.”
Through exhaustive monitoring and analysis, GHAI identified five strategies employed by Big Soda to obstruct SB taxes across more than 25 countries. These include:
1, Manipulating tax designs: instances such as in Vietnam, where industry bodies have pushed to exclude certain drinks from taxation
2, Mounting legal challenges: examples from Colombia and Spain highlight how legal threats and challenges are used to intimidate governments and contest the legality of SB taxes
3, Discrediting scientific evidence: tactics observed in Guam and China where industry-funded research is leveraged to question the effectiveness of SSB taxes
4, Economic alarmism: as seen in Nigeria and Pakistan, economic arguments are employed to suggest that SB taxes would lead to job losses and economic downturns
5, Exploiting social concerns: efforts in Indonesia show how the industry uses corporate social responsibility to overshadow their products' health impacts
Kenneth Connell, president, of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition commented: “Across the Caribbean, the battle against Big Soda's interference is particularly poignant.
“We witness how these multinational companies manipulate the narrative and exploit local contexts to maintain their market share at the cost of public health.”
The GHAI report calls on policymakers, civil society and health advocates to anticipate and counter these tactics with robust, evidence-based SB tax designs that prioritise health over industry profits.
• For more on the report, Sweetened Profits, see Related Media
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