The Pros And Cons Of Sugar Consumption

The large consumption of sugar intake is arguably the leading cause of adverse health conditions such as obesity and diabetes in the U.S. Many researchers have studied health outcomes as a result of increased sugar intake, and have concluded that high levels of sugar is most commonly “found in the vast majority of processed foods, especially in sugar-sweetened beverages.” With this knowledge, several health organizations (i.e. World Health Organization) are strongly recommending children and adults to reduce their intake of sugars to less than 10%. The World Health Organization also suggests that “a further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grams (6 teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits.” Before discussing health …show more content…
Correspondingly, sales taxes are added during purchase and are not usually noticed by the consumer until after the purchase. The mere fact that many states imposed sales tax on sugar drinks in 2010, and health conditions related to sugar consumption is still a rising issues shows that consumers have accepted the taxes. Another solution would be to raise the actual cost of sugar drinks, also known as excise taxes. Excise taxes are “another taxing mechanism that can be used to increase the cost of sugar drinks and generate revenue for public health initiatives.” This form of taxing serves as an effective initiative because it makes all parties (consumer and distributor) responsible for higher cost and may cause consumers to reconsider purchase. It may also discourage retailers to market sugar drinks as a result of having to cover taxes based on quantity sold. Over the years, the U.S. has largely promoted the idea of “super-sizing” sugar drinks for cheaper prices. In efforts to minimize this act, policy makers have proposed proportional pricing policies. Proportional pricing would “require that the price of sugar drinks be based on the quantity of beverage sold, and would prohibit today’s common pricing arrangements under which larger quantities of a sugar drink can be purchased at a lower price per ounce than a smaller size.” To successful advocate this policy, distributors would have to agree on price changes for larger drinks. In order to successfully encourage manufacturers and distributors to raise prices of larger quantities of a sugar drink, fees must be