Close×

The Australian Beverages Council has rejected researchers' claims that taxing foods that are high in sugar, salt and saturated fats and subsidising fruit and vegetables would prolong lives and save billions in healthcare costs.

In their article published in the PLOS (Public Library of Science) Magazine, researchers at the University of Melbourne have modelled the impact of such taxes and subsidies and claim they would prolong Australians' lives by more than two years and save $3.4 billion.

Their models are based on food consumption figures from nutrition surveys, supermarket data to determine food costs, and forecasts of disease rates based on the population in 2010.

"The study suggests that taxes and subsidies on foods and beverages can potentially be combined to achieve substantial improvements in population health and cost savings to the health sector," the authors wrote.

"The modelling illustrates the potentially large benefits of combining food taxes and subsidies for improving population health and reducing health sector spending," they wrote

"The Australian Government should follow the lead of France, Mexico, the UK, and other countries in developing a policy for taxing and subsiding foods and drinks to improve public health."

Australian Beverages Council CEO Geoff Parker, however, has dismissed their proposed strategy as the answer to obesity.

“It’s disappointing that in 2017, the only solution being put forward to address a complex problem like obesity is taxes, taxes and more taxes.

“This paper acknowledges that taxing food and drink is fundamentally regressive in that it hurts those who can least afford it, Parker said. "Clearly this study lacks any real-world analysis."

Parker said that on the one hand, the authors argue that the financial stress caused by five new food and drink taxes can be counterbalanced by subsidising fruit and vegetables, yet, on the other hand, they concede that a discounting incentive could lead to an 'overall increase in dietary measures such as saturated fat, sodium, or total energy intake.

“Ironically, the report also found that a sugar-sweetened beverage tax led to a decrease in fruit and vegetable consumption, as well as being the least cost-effective tax and providing the smallest health gains," Parker said.

Parker noted that the economic model also fails to account for a variety of product innovations already taking place in the food and beverage industry, and does not consider the dire consequences these new taxes will have on local jobs and the economy.

“The authors state that product reformulation could have a 20 per cent health benefit gain yet fail to take into account that this is already occurring, particularly in the beverage industry, in the absence of any discriminatory taxes,” Parker said.

“In addition, this study doesn't consider the impact a suite of new taxes will have on industry, putting local businesses and jobs at risk. The introduction of a soda tax in Mexico in 2014, for instance, led to 3,000 job losses and soda consumption returned to pre-tax levels by mid-2015, thereby having no impact on public health."

Parker also noted that Australia already has a tax on most items in the supermarket that exempts fresh foods - the GST.

“The results of this study seem to be calling for another GST. If that’s the case, then let’s have that debate,” he said.

Packaging News

Earlier this month PKN published an article that voiced industry concern over the speculation that Qenos might be closing its polymer manufacturing plants in Australia. Qenos has remained silent on the matter. The MD of Qenos customer Impact International, Aleks Lajovic, wants some answers.

Amcor, a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions, is the proud recipient of eight FPA Awards for innovative and sustainable contributions to the industry.

An impressive number of quality entries into the inaugural Hive Awards created a highly competitive line-up for judges to consider. The packaging category was one of the most strongly contested.