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Sugar tax on soft drinks might drive up alcohol consumption

​A sugar tax levied on soft drinks might have the unintended consequence of driving up alcohol consumption, but the picture is mixed, finds research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

As many alcoholic drinks contain similar or greater amounts of sugar (43 kcals/100 ml for beer; 85 kcals for wine; 40 kcals for cola) and have other well-known harms, a more nuanced approach across a range of beverages may be more effective than a single tax on sugary drinks, say the researchers.

An industry levy will be imposed on soft drinks with a high sugar content in the UK from this April in a bid to curb the rising tide of obesity and diabetes. Many other countries, including Hungary, Finland, France, Belgium, Portugal, Mexico, Chile, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have already gone down this route.

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