Shun Sugary Drinks

Samrat Baral

When I was a child, I used to see tourists cycling in scorching sun in Pokhara and stopping by a shop nearby my house to sip sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). I used to think that SSBs consumption would cool off one from the heat and quench thirst, and always wished to have one. But, as I grew older, I came to know the cost of SSBs on human health and wellbeing. 

As non-alcoholic beverages, SSBs contain sugars such as carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks, juices, flavoured milks, etc. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that adults and children reduce their consumption of “free sugars” to less than 10 per cent of their daily energy consumption. If we drink a single can of carbonated soft drink, we will consume an average of 40 gram of free sugars (equivalent roughly to 10 teaspoon of table sugar). Hence, such beverages only add to our energy consumption leading to obesity.

Around 4.5 million people die each year due to conditions linked to obesity which is close to the death toll by COVID-19 in the Europe and Americas combined so far. A total cost of US$ 990 billion can be attributed to high body mass index to health services globally. The cumulative economic impact of obesity is estimated at US$ 2 trillion — nearly 50 times of Nepal’s economy. 

In this view, the WHO has recently published a manual calling on countries to adopt taxation policies on SSBs to promote healthy diets. With such items being taxed heavily, their price goes up with subsequent decrease in demand if economic theory on price elasticity of non-essential items such as sweetened beverages is anything to go by. Excise duties levied on the tobacco and the alcoholic products have been found to have impacted positively to reduced consumption and with extra bonus benefit of increased government revenue. 

Thus, the recommended policy envisions yielding triple benefits: greater revenue collection, reduction of long-term health burden and minimise health inequalities. The manual has acknowledged Nepal’s initiative to implement the taxation policy on SSBs. Nepal is one of the countries to implement SSB taxes in the form of excise duty — the duty levied on items which are prone to cause health and/or environmental risks, such as alcohol, tobacco and fuels used in vehicle. The latest Financial Act, 2079 BS has raised the excise duty on the SSBs. 

As of now, the excise duty on SBBs is levied flatly, while the duty varies based on alcohol content in alcoholic beverages with higher duty levied for higher alcohol content. Similar approach can be adopted in SSBs by subjecting such drinks with higher sugar content to comparatively higher excise duty. This will make SSBs with lower sugar content cheaper than those with higher sugar content, thus prompting consumers to switch to SSBs with lower sugar content if they cannot avoid drinking at all.  Some SSBs manufacturers are even switching to artificial sweeteners (with low calorie content) for sugars. 

One of the possible preventive approaches to reducing non-communicable disease — a major headache for government and health policy makers worldwide — linked to obesity is to reduce consumption of SSBs. While the state can promote healthy diet through policy intervention, each of us shall feel for our own lives to make ourselves healthy. The manufacturers of such products will also have to feel the responsibility and conduct business that has lesser negative externalities as far as possible. Only through this collective approach can we materialise our aspiration to live healthily.