Food Taxes Research Articles

The Effects of Food Taxes and Subsidies on Promoting Healthier Diets in Iranian Households.

Background and AimPrice, as a key driver of food purchasing, has an important role in determining the consumer demand. This study is aimed to estimate the effect of food taxes and subsidies on purchasing patterns of Iranian households (HHs).MethodsThis study was performed in two phases. In phase one, a two-round Delphi study was conducted to determine and prioritize food-related fiscal policies; and in the second phase, using the Iranian Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES), we estimated an almost ideal demand system (AIDS) and simulated changes in purchases, nutrient intake, and consumer welfare under six different policy scenarios: (1) 20% subsidy on vegetables, (2) 20% subsidy on fruits, (3) 30% subsidy on legumes, (4) 25% tax on sugar and sweets, (5) 30% tax on sweetened beverages, and (6) 30% tax on hydrogenated oil and animal fats.ResultsThe highest calorie reduction was detected in sugar and sweets tax, which has resulted in 949.67, 971.68, and 1,148.03 kilocalories decrease in energy intake per Adult Male Equivalent (AME) in all HHs, low-income HHs, and high-income HHs, respectively. In terms of welfare changes, high-income HHs will experience a lower change in welfare (−0.81 to 0.11%) relative to their income when compared with low-income HHs (−0.88 to 0.28%) due to fiscal policies.ConclusionFiscal policies in Iran can be a potential way to improve dietary choices. The findings provide essential information for decision makers for the implementation of food-related fiscal policies.

A Bibliometric Analysis on Fat Tax

A Bibliometric Analysis on Fat Tax

The benefits and challenges of taxing sugar in a small island state: an interrupted time series analysis

BackgroundBeverage and food taxes have become a popular ‘best buy’ public health intervention in the global battle to tackle noncommunicable diseases. Though many countries have introduced taxes, mainly targeting products containing sugar, there is great heterogeneity in tax design. For taxes levied as import tariffs, there is limited evidence of effectiveness in changing the price and sale of taxed products, while the evidence base is stronger for excise taxes levied as a fixed amount per quantity of product. This paper examines the effect of the Bermuda Discretionary Foods Tax, which was based on import tariff changes, on retail prices and sales of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and on selected fruits and vegetables that benefited from a tariff reduction.MethodsWe used weekly electronic point-of-sale data from a major food retailer in Bermuda. We assessed historical weekly sales and price data using an interrupted time series design on 2,703 unique products between the dates of January 2018 through January 2020, covering 103 weeks.ResultsBy January 2020, the average price per ounce of SSBs increased by 26.0%, while the price of untaxed beverages (including waters and non-added sugar drinks) remained constant. The increasing price of SSBs was the sole observable structural driver of SSB market share, responsible for a decrease in the market share by nearly eight percentage points by the end of the study period. The subsidy on fruits and vegetables was ineffective in changing prices and sales, due to the relatively small 5% import tax decrease.ConclusionsThe tax was largely passed through to consumers. However, several factors mitigated the impact of the tax on the prices paid for SSBs by consumers, including the specific design of the tax, price promotions and consumer responses. The experience of Bermuda provides important lessons for the planning of similar taxes in the future.

Evaluation of Economic and Health Outcomes Associated With Food Taxes and Subsidies

Fiscal policy is a promising approach to incentivizing better food choices and reducing the burden of chronic disease. To inform guidelines on using fiscal policies, including taxes and subsidies, to promote health, the World Health Organization commissioned a systematic review and meta-analysis of the worldwide literature on the outcomes of such policies for food products. To assess the outcomes of implemented food taxes and subsidies for prices, sales, consumption, and population-level diet and health. Eight bibliographic databases were searched for peer-reviewed literature and 14 data sources along with governmental websites were searched for grey literature that were published from database inception through June 1, 2020. There were no language and setting restrictions. Only primary studies of implemented food taxes and subsidies were considered for inclusion. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) reporting guideline was followed. A 3-level random-effects model was used to conduct a meta-analysis of sales and consumption outcomes of fruit and vegetable subsidies. Other outcomes were analyzed in a narrative synthesis. Study estimates in the meta-analysis were combined using a price elasticity measure for sales and consumption outcomes. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic and τ2. Studies varied in how diet and health were measured. A total of 54 articles were included in the systematic review, of which 15 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Most food subsidies targeted fruits and vegetables and populations with low income, whereas the evidence on food taxes was primarily from the nonessential energy-dense food tax in Mexico. Sales of subsidized fruits and vegetables increased significantly, with an estimated price elasticity of demand of -0.59 (95% CI, -1.04 to -0.13 [P = .02]; 95% prediction interval, -2.07 to 0.90; I2 = 92.4% [95% CI, 89.0%-94.8%; P < .001]), suggesting inelastic demand. There was no significant change in the consumption of subsidized fruits and vegetables, with an estimated price elasticity of demand of -0.17 (95% CI, -0.49 to 0.15 [P = .26]; 95% prediction interval, -1.01 to 0.67; I2 = 76.2% [95% CI, 54.3%-87.6%; P < .001]). Food excise taxes were associated with higher prices and reduced sales. Evidence was limited on the differential outcomes of food taxes and subsidies across subpopulations. Results of this systematic review and meta-analysis indicated that fruit and vegetable subsidies were associated with a moderate increase in fruit and vegetable sales. Further research is warranted to understand the implications of food taxes and subsidies for population-level consumption, diet, and health outcomes.

Can a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Tax on Food also Be Healthy and Equitable? A Systemised Review and Modelling Study from Aotearoa New Zealand.

Policies to mitigate climate change are essential. The objective of this paper was to estimate the impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) food taxes and assess whether such a tax could also have health benefits in Aotearoa NZ. We undertook a systemised review on GHG food taxes to inform four tax scenarios, including one combined with a subsidy. These scenarios were modelled to estimate lifetime impacts on quality-adjusted health years (QALY), health inequities by ethnicity, GHG emissions, health system costs and food costs to the individual. Twenty-eight modelling studies on food tax policies were identified. Taxes resulted in decreased consumption of the targeted foods (e.g., −15.4% in beef/ruminant consumption, N = 12 studies) and an average decrease of 8.3% in GHG emissions (N = 19 studies). The “GHG weighted tax on all foods” scenario had the largest health gains and costs savings (455,800 QALYs and NZD 8.8 billion), followed by the tax—fruit and vegetable subsidy scenario (410,400 QALYs and NZD 6.4 billion). All scenarios were associated with reduced GHG emissions and higher age standardised per capita QALYs for Māori. Applying taxes that target foods with high GHG emissions has the potential to be effective for reducing GHG emissions and to result in co-benefits for population health.

Sustainable Food Consumption in India: Present State, Viability, Barriers and Possibilities

Veganism as a lifestyle is becoming increasingly popular in the world due to its various advantages but somehow the growth has not been so significant in India. This paper aims to identify the scope of veganism as a culture in India and the factors that impede its growth. Primary data is collected to study consumer behaviour and to assess their knowledge on the subject. Various factors such as price, age, knowledge, gender, etc were identified. To understand the impact of these factors on the decision of people to switch to a vegan diet, regression analysis is conducted between the dependent and independent factors. The paper deeply analyses the impact and feasibility of the growth of this culture on the demand and supply side of the market in India. In conclusion, the paper presents some policy suggestions such as fat tax, green contracts and nudges which can lead to a more sustained form of consumption in the country.

The potential of food environment policies to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in diets and to improve healthy diets among lower socioeconomic groups: an umbrella review

Socioeconomic inequalities in diets need to be tackled to improve population diets and prevent obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases. The potential of food environment policies to reduce such inequalities has to date however not been appraised. The objective of this umbrella review was to assess the impact of food environment policies on socioeconomic inequalities in diets and to identify knowledge gaps in the existing literature, using the Healthy Food Environment Policy Index as a conceptual framework. The policies considered in the umbrella review are within six domains: 1) food composition 2) food labelling 3) food promotion 4) food provision 5) food retail 6) food pricing. A systematic search for systematic literature reviews on the effect of food environment policies on dietary-related outcomes across socioeconomic groups and published in English between 2004 and 2019 was conducted. Sixteen systematic literature reviews encompassing 159 primary studies were included, covering food composition (n = 2), food labelling (n = 3), food provision (n = 2), food prices (n = 13) and food in retail (n = 4). Quality assessment using the “Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews” quality rating scale showed that review quality was mainly low or critically low. Results suggest that food taxation may reduce socioeconomic inequalities in diets. For all other policy areas, the evidence base was poor. Current research largely fails to provide good quality evidence on impacts of food environment policies on socioeconomic inequalities in diets. Research to fill this knowledge gap is urgently needed.

Potential effect of real-world junk food and sugar-sweetened beverage taxes on population health, health system costs and greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand: a modelling study

Poor diet is a major risk factor for excess weight gain and obesity-related diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis and several cancers. This paper aims to assess...

From the history of ensuring the food tax campaign at the turn of 1920 - 1921 (based on the materials of the Tsaritsyn province)

From the history of ensuring the food tax campaign at the turn of 1920 - 1921 (based on the materials of the Tsaritsyn province)

Nutrition policies in Germany: a systematic assessment with the Food Environment Policy Index.

To systematically assess Germany's nutrition policies, to benchmark them against international best practices and to identify priority policy actions to improve population-level nutrition in Germany. We applied the Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI), a methodological framework developed by the International Network for Food and Obesity/non-communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) network. Qualitative content analysis of laws, directives and other documents formed the basis of a multistaged, structured consultation process. Germany. The expert consultation process included fifty-five experts from academia, public administration and civil society. Germany lags behind international best practices in several key policy areas. For eighteen policy indicators, the degree of implementation compared with international best practices was rated as very low, for twenty-one as low, for eight as intermediate and for none as high. In particular, indicators on food taxation, regulation of food marketing as well as retail and food service sector policies were rated as very low to low. Identified priority actions included the binding implementation of nutrition standards for schools and kindergartens, a reform of the value added tax on foods and beverages, a sugar-sweetened beverage tax and stricter regulation of food marketing directed at children. The results show that Germany makes insufficient use of the potential of evidence-informed health-promoting nutrition policies. Adopting international best practices in key policy areas could help to reduce the burden of nutrition-related chronic disease and related inequalities in nutrition and health in Germany. Implementation of relevant policies requires political leadership, a broad societal dialogue and evidence-informed advocacy by civil society, including the scientific community.

The regulatory governance conditions that lead to food policies achieving improvements in population nutrition outcomes: a qualitative comparative analysis.

To identify the regulatory governance factors that lead to food policies achieving improvements in food environment, consumer behaviour and diet-related health outcomes. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) was used to investigate the relationship between regulatory governance conditions and population nutrition outcomes. The regulatory governance conditions examined entailed: high industry involvement in the policy process, regulatory design, policy instrument design, policy monitoring and enforcement. n 29 policy cases in the policy areas of food reformulation, nutrition labelling, food taxation and food marketing. Policies implemented in thirteen countries. Comprehensive monitoring was identified as a necessary regulatory governance condition for food policies to have an impact and was present in 94 % of policy cases that had a positive impact on nutrition outcomes. We identified two sufficient combinations of regulatory governance conditions. The first sufficient combination of conditions comprised an absence of high industry involvement in the policy process, combined with the presence of strict regulatory design, best-practice instrument design, and comprehensive monitoring and enforcement. Ninety-six percent of policy cases with positive impacts on nutrition outcomes displayed this combination. The second sufficient combination of conditions comprised an absensce of high industry involvement in the policy process, best practice instrument design and comprehensive monitoring. Eighty-two percent of policy cases with positive impacts on nutrition outcomes displayed this combination. These findings show the importance of regulatory governance on policy outcomes. They suggest a need for more government-led nutrition policy processes and transparent monitoring systems that are independent from industry.

The impacts on food purchases and tax revenues of a tax based on Chile’s nutrient profiling model

In June 2016, Chile implemented the Law of Food Labelling and Advertising, which included a mandatory front-of-pack warning labels on food and beverages high in added sugar, saturated fat, sodium or energy density, restrictions on child-directed marketing and on the promotion and sales of these products in schools. The regulation does not include taxes although Chile had implemented a tiered tax on SSBs two years before this law was implemented. Therefore, the objective of the study was to simulate the impact of taxing food and beverages based on the cutoff's points for warning labels on purchases and revenues. We derived price elasticities using the linear approximation of the almost ideal demand system for six groups of labeled food and beverages (with a warning label based on the regulation) and unlabeled (with no warning label): 1) unlabeled beverages, 2) labeled beverages, 3) unlabeled cereal based products, 4) labeled cereal based products, 5) labeled meat and fish and 6) labeled sweet snacks and desserts. The study used data on household food beverage purchases from the Kantar WorldPanel Chile and Euromonitor sales to adjust the Kantar elasticity results to the national average. We estimated revenues under three tax scenarios for all labeled food and beverages: 10%, 20%, 30% of the final price excluding taxes. Except for labeled fish and meat, all food and beverage groups were price elastic. After accounting for a reduction in consumption after the taxes, economic and population growth, revenues for all groups could reach between 457 million USD to 1.3 billion USD. These results based on the much larger tax base of these labeled "high in added sugar, salt or saturated fat or energy density" foods and beverages is much larger. This fiscal package could be implemented in countries with warning labels to enhance health and welfare. The Chilean warning label front-of-the-package system provides an important guide for countries considering policies to reduce diet-related non communicable diseases, including obesity. The fiscal policy impact alone, as shown here for Chile, will be highly impactful in reducing ultra-processed food intake and generating revenues.

Successful implementation of the Healthy Diné Nation Act in stores on the Navajo Nation

In 2014, the Navajo Nation Council passed the Healthy Diné Nation Act (HDNA), a 2% tax on unhealthy foods and beverages and a waiver of the 5% sales tax on healthy foods and water, to support health promotion and disease prevention among the Navajo people. Very little research has assessed implementation accuracy of food or beverage taxes and none were implemented within a sovereign Tribal nation. This study assessed the accuracy ofHDNA tax implementation among 47 stores located on the Navajo Nation.A pair of tax-exempt items [e.g. a bottle of water and fresh fruit] and a pair of HDNA-tax eligible items [e.g. sugary beverage and candy bar] were purchased between July-December 2019. Receipts were retained to assess taxation. A total of 87.2% ofstores accurately implemented the 2% tax on unhealthy items while 55.3% of the stores accurately implemented the 6% tax waiver on healthy items. In all, 51.1% of the stores accurately applied both taxes. There were no significant differences across store type (convenience or grocery stores and trading posts) or geographic region. In conclusion, almost all stores on the Navajo Nation accurately applied a 2% tax on unhealthy foods and beverages, while the proportion of stores applying a waiver on healthy foods was lower. Successful HDNA tax implementation among stores remains an important priority in achieving the goal to support health promotion and disease prevention among Navajo communities.

A food tax only minimally reduces the N surplus of Swiss agriculture

CONTEXTMost Western-European countries exceed the critical loads for nitrogen (N) losses. High nitrogen (N) inputs make agriculture one of the largest contributors to N pollution. There might be a potential to reduce this losses with an output tax on animal products, as they have low N use efficiency and a tax has the potential to reduce the consumption of this products. OBJECTIVEWe want to assess the potential of a food tax on animal products to reduce the N surplus of Swiss agriculture. METHODSWe implemented a tax on meat and a tax on milk and meat in the agent-based model SWISSland. The model combines an agent-based model with a microeconomic model at the farm scale. To better understand the low response of the food tax, we applied in a second step a robust two-step global sensitivity analysis of abatement costs of individual model agents. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSImposing a tax led to an N surplus reduction of 2.1% where only meat was taxed and 2.3% where both milk and meat were taxed. The sensitivity analysis showed that distinct agents reacted non-uniformly to changing prices, so that the effect of the tax was sometimes even cancelled out. This calls for more differentiated policies to reduce the negative impact of N losses. SIGNIFICANCEThe overall impact of the food tax was minor as the distinct agents react not uniformly to lower producer prices.

Do grocery food taxes incentivize participation in SNAP?

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal food assistance program in the United States and is designed to reduce food insecurity especially for low income working families, disabled people, and senior citizens. Although economists have extensively studied the factors influencing SNAP participation by eligible households as well as SNAP efficacy in reducing food insecurity, there has been no research on the potential link between the grocery food sales tax and SNAP participation rates, which is a less visible benefit of SNAP participation because participants are not taxed on their food purchases. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of grocery food tax differences between state border counties on differences in SNAP participation. We collect food sales tax data from 2010 to 2017 including all 1184 counties on state borders in the United States, and almost one-half of those border counties (42.6% for 2017) had a sales tax on grocery food. Our results suggest that a 1% increase in the grocery tax difference between cross-border neighbors is associated with a 0.12% increase in the difference in county-level SNAP participation. That is, counties with higher grocery taxes than their neighboring counties have higher SNAP participation rates, which is likely due to the tax shielding feature of SNAP. This result has implications for states/counties that rely on the grocery tax for funding government programs.

In search of an appropriate mix of taxes and subsidies on nutrients and food: A modelling study of the effectiveness on health-related consumption and mortality

Taxes and subsidies on foods and nutrients have the potential to promote healthier diets and thereby reduce mortality. In this study, we examine the effects of such policy instruments on Swedish public health. Specifically, we estimate the effects of food and nutrient taxes and subsidies on mortality averted and postponed in Sweden, using both demand system estimations and simulation models. We evaluate different Value Added Tax (VAT) reforms. The VAT is raised on food products that are particularly rich in saturated fat or salt and lowered on fruit and vegetables. Our models predict that an increase in the current VAT of 12% on food, to 25% VAT on products rich in saturated fat plus a 0% VAT on fruits and vegetables would result in almost 1100 deaths (95% CI: −832; −1363) averted or postponed in a year in Sweden, while the combination of a 34.4% VAT on products rich in saturated fat and a −10.4% VAT (i.e. a subsidy) on fruits and vegetables would result in almost 2100 (95% CI: −1572; −2311) deaths averted or postponed corresponding to a 4.8% reduction in diet-related annual death. Most of the deaths averted or delayed from this reform would be deaths from coronary heart disease (−1,148, 95% CI: −728; −1586), followed by stroke −641 (95% CI: −408; −887) and diet-related cancer deaths (−288, 95% CI: −11; −435). We find that health-related food taxes and subsidies improve dietary habits as well as reduce the mortality of the Swedish population. However, the effect of these reforms on different socioeconomic classes and which reforms provide the best value for money, i.e., cost-effectiveness of these reforms needs to be established first before implementation.

Schools of Smolensk Province in the Era of NEP: &#x0D; from Survival to Development

The period of the new economic policy, 1921–1928, is often idealized in the public mind and presented against the background of the previous policy of «war communism» as a decade of abundance and prosperity, a significant break-&#x0D; through in the socio-economic life of Soviet Russia that has just emerged from the Civil War. A valid argument for such an assessment of NEP will be the convertible new monetary unit of Russia, viz. the gold chervonets, as well as the broad devel-&#x0D; opment of cooperation and the first concessions attracting foreign capital. However, there was another side to this apparently blessed picture of the NEP era – the state, focusing exclusively on «pulling out» the economy, completely «left» the social sphere, shifting the solution of social issues to local authorities. This included, in fact, firstly, public education. From the second half of &#x0D; 1921, the school was left without centralized state funding, if we did not consider additional charges for the food tax, which solved absolutely nothing. The introduction of tuition fees for education, the so-called contractual schools, the peasants’ self-imposition for the needs of education included a set of measures that &#x0D; the center proposed to the regions to preserve the public education system. The period of the school survival, concerning especially the rural school, began. Gradual changes for the better began only in the 1926–1927, when the some what stronger state again «turned its face to the school» and the practice of selftaxation will actually work in the regions, when not only existing schools were repaired at peasants’ expense, but also new schools were being built, equipment and textbooks were procured. A decent salary, in comparison with the beginning of NEP, was paid to a school teacher. The school entered its developmental stage.

Diet-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Brazilian State Capital Cities

This article aims to investigate diet-related greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil concerning residents of all state capital cities, as well as examining whether the taxes for São Paulo State currently levied on food products are consistent with their social carbon costs. After sorting the individuals into groups according to income and city of residence, we estimated the number of emissions linked to the diets of each group integrating emission data with consumer expenditure survey data. Our results show that beef and dairy products are the most carbon-intensive foods, while rice is the biggest emitter among plant-based foods. Diets of low-income individuals emit less, while the diets of individuals living in Northern states, in the countryside or in small towns emit significantly more. Our findings also show that the existing food taxes levied in São Paulo State are too low for some carbon-intensive foods and too high for less carbon-intensive foods, discouraging the consumption of eco-friendly foods and boosting the consumption of foods with higher carbon footprints. We conclude that a revision of Brazil’s food taxation considering carbon intensity would be highly recommended, but this revision should also consider the impact of new taxes on peoples’ nutrition and health.

Periodicals as a Factor of Strengthening Soviet Power During the Transition Period (by the Materials of the North Caucasian Press)

The article examines the processes of the formation of mass periodicals in the North Caucasus in the first years of the existence of Soviet power. Its relevance is due to the poor study of the Soviet press of the 1920s, especially its development in the national regions of the state. It is shown that the functions of the Soviet press at the first stages of its existence were reduced to the ideological struggle against counter-revolution and party opposition. At the same time, the newspapers covered topics relevant to early Soviet everyday life: peasant and school issues, the life of auls, food appropriation, food tax, etc. The purpose of the article is to examine the process of development of the Bolshevik policy in the field of mass media in the post-revolutionary period. It is emphasized that for a number of regions of the North Caucasus, the appearance of their own periodicals is associated with the arrival of the Soviet regime, which is pursuing a protectionist policy in relation to the press. It was within the framework of this policy that a number of local publications were published in the languages of the peoples of the North Caucasus, for example, the Ossetian «Rastdzinad». The list of newspapers published in the region during the period under study is presented, among which, in terms of the duration of the issue, the thematic content, one can single out such newspapers as «Krasnaya Kabarda», «Kommunist», «Sovetskaya Autonomnaya Chechnya», and «Gorskaya Pravda». Special attention is paid to the substantive analysis of the «Kommunist» newspaper for 1920, which made it possible to identify the most relevant plots and topics related to the coverage of the events of the Civil War, as well as the processes taking place within the framework of the emerging new economic policy and nation-building. In the conclusion, it is concluded that the important role played by both the Soviet periodicals and the press of the national regions in the ideological support of the activities of the organs of Soviet power.

FAMINE IN THE COUNTRY IN 1921-1922: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES

The article analyzes the causes and consequences of the fact that the country has experienced three famines since the establishment of Soviet power. The policy of "military communism" during the drought of 1921-1922 was a severe blow to agriculture and led to the spread of famine. During the years of civil strife, the fact that a large part of the population's food was taken for free by the state did not go unnoticed. Especially in Uralsk, Orenburg, Kostanay, Bokei, Aktobe provinces, the drought killed a lot of livestock. The locals were starving. The situation of homeless children was dire. Various infectious diseases and deaths have increased in the country. The state of health care in the country was not critical. This was compounded by the recklessness of local leaders in collecting food taxes and the actions of gangs. During the famine, the leadership of the autonomy took a number of measures. Field hunger commissions have been set up. Homelesschildren were placed in orphanages and special places, and even in other republics and foreign countries.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United States have provided humanitarian assistance to help end the famine. The effects of the nearly three-year famine were severe. During these years, about 1 million Kazakhs died of starvation.