Workplace Bans On Sugar-Sweetened Beverages
- University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, Wisconsin
The study by Sanjay Basu and coauthors (Jul 2020) is an ambitious and important investigation that provides policy conclusions for workplace bans of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). The simulation used by the authors, however, is limited in its modeling of sugar consumption. Future research considerations in this topic would be aided by addressing the following two points.
First, the observed change in SSB consumption from the University of California San Francisco workplace ban does not fully capture the resulting change in sugar intake. SSBs vary in their sugar (and calorie) content, and it is this that determines their per ounce effect on health.1 It is also reasonable to assume that different employee populations prefer different SSBs. The model would be improved by considering the change in grams of consumed sugar across the simulated segments of the population.
Second, and more critically, measures of the effect of SSB-targeted policies on SSB consumption do not capture the full effects of such policies on sugar consumption—and hence health—due to unobserved substitution patterns. When giving up SSBs, former consumers are likely to switch to other products that satisfy the same wants, such as alternative high-calorie drinks or sugary snacks, instead of abstaining altogether.2 Not accounting for these patterns, particularly in terms of their respective sugar content, diminishes the validity of the simulation’s evidence for both health and revenue effects.
Simulations are understandably constrained by data availability. Still, researchers can only predict the effects of policies targeting consumption by fully modeling how people consume.
NOTES
- 1 . Should we tax sugar-sweetened beverages? An overview of theory and evidence. J Econ Perspect. 2019;33(3):202– 27. Crossref, Google Scholar
- 2 . Substitution patterns can limit the effects of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes on obesity. Prev Chronic Dis. 2013;10:E18. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar