Soda drinks are just 1.6% of average calories
In their report on the sugar tax, the Taxpayers’ Union stated that only 1.6% of average calories came from sugary soft drinks. Now I’m on their board, but I don’t normally get into the details of...
View ArticleLabour also against a sugar tax
Stuff reports: The Government isn’t fazed by a group of health professors lobbying to introduce a tax on sugary drinks. The professors want Cabinet to introduce a 20 per cent excise tax on sugary...
View ArticleFacts on sugar and obesity in NZ
I know some people hate facts getting in the way of their desire to tax anything they don’t like, but I’m quite attached to them. Associate Professor Winsome Parnell has written at the Sugar Research...
View ArticleSoda sales soar in Mexico after sugar tax!
The WSJ reports: Sales of soda are climbing two years after Mexico imposed a roughly 10% tax on sugary drinks … Purchases, however, are rising in Mexico after an initial drop, making the country a...
View ArticleTaxes do change behaviour – but only at certain levels
John Bishop writes in NBR: The advocates of a sugar tax also argue that price rises worked for tobacco, so why would they not also work for sugar. I think there are three differences. The first is that...
View ArticleIrish journal fact check on sugar taxes
The Ireland Journal fact checks claims about sugar taxes. They find: Claim: Taxes on sugary drinks have not achieved their public health aims Verdict: Mostly TRUE There is some evidence that the tax...
View ArticleLabour looks like it favours a sugar tax
Stuff reports: Labour is apparently close to endorsing a tax on sugary drinks – with health spokeswoman Annette King saying there is growing evidence and support for such a measure. Once again Labour...
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Mexican soda sales
A useful graph from the Food and Grocery Council. As you can see the impact on soda sales in Mexico from their sugar tax has been minimal. Over two years sales dropped a miniscule 0.5% after the tax...
View ArticleSend Cadbury’s to jail!
A great example of the extreme rhetoric from the Greens in Stuff: Genter said research from Nelson Marlborough District Health Board principal dental officer Rob Beaglehole showed the cost of treating...
View ArticleIntentions rarely translate to action
The Herald reports: Nearly three-quarters of Kiwi fast-food consumers would trim their intake if the Government imposed a fat tax, a survey suggests. Fourteen per cent said they would quit fast food...
View ArticleDo we need a sugar tax for Xmas?
Jenesa Jeram blogs: So with the spirit of Nigella in mind, I want you to consider an important question: does New Zealand need a sugar tax to protect us from Christmas excesses? Sugar taxes have, after...
View ArticleRoughan on a sugar tax
John Roughan writes: Like rust, the researchers of public health keep trying to corrode our tax system. Like rust, they never sleep. They were at it again this week, holding a “fizz” conference at...
View ArticleODT on sugar tax
The ODT editorial: Sugar-sweetened drinks provide energy with little or no nutrients. A higher cost, it is argued, should discourage consumption. Governments in New Zealand and Australia, however, have...
View ArticleMOH report concludes sugar taxes don’t work
Eric Crampton has spent 50 days battling the Government to get a report the Ministry of Health commissioned from NZIER released. Thanks to the Ombudsman, it is now public. Eric summarises their...
View ArticleCrampton on sugar taxes
Eric Crampton writes: Sugar taxes of 10 or 20 per cent – the range usually advocated – simply do not affect consumption very much. Everybody talks about how tobacco taxes have cut tobacco consumption,...
View ArticleTaxes and black markets
Rachel Thomas at Stuff reports: The US city Philadelphia introduced a tax on sugar. A black market in soft drinks followed. Rachel Thomas visited for Stuff’s ‘Sugar Fix‘ series. A crate of Pepsi is...
View ArticleCan we keep Winston as Acting PM?
I never thought I would say this, but can we keep Winston on as Acting PM? If we have to have a Labour-NZ First-Green Government, it is more tolerable with Winston calling the shots. First issue on...
View ArticleDHB hysteria
The Herald reports: DHBs want a tax on sugary drinks – warning the obesity epidemic could result in Kiwi kids living shorter lives than their parents. The extraordinary letters sent to Health Minister...
View ArticleFailing to give full advice to the PM
The Herald reports: A sugar tax would generate millions in revenue and save lives, the Prime Minister has been told. The briefing from the Ministry of Health’s chief science advisor Dr John Potter was...
View Article$7.5 billion surplus and they’re planning another tax!
The Herald reports: Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare says measures like a sugar tax should be considered to drive up the cost of junk food and drink, along with warning labels. No sugar tax in...
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