Diabetes Canada renewing calls for new tax on sugary drinks
Posted November 29, 2017 9:20 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A Canadian charity believes that if you’re forced to pay more for a bottle of pop, you’ll be less likely to buy it. It’s one of the topics being discussed this month, which is Diabetes Awareness Month.
“It really will take multiple ways to try to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks,” says Seema Nagpal, an epidemiologist with Diabetes Canada.
Nagpal tells us sugary drinks are affecting our health. “They contribute to… obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, [and] certain types of cancer.”
Taxing companies that produce sugary drinks isn’t a new idea.
“It’s been applied in Mexico and it’s been very successful in Mexico, so that after two years, there was a reduction of consumption aroudn 10 per cent,” says Nagpal.
She says money from a new tax could be spent on health intiatives, “[such as] subsidies for foods that are healthy — it could be school health programs”
Nagpal says if the price of pop goes up, you may start making healthier choices. Diabetes Canada claims that could reduce deaths, disability, and health care costs in our country.
She hopes a sugar tax could become reality within the next two years.
NEWS 1130 is a proud supporter of Diabetes Canada. Our Tim James is representing Team Diabetes at the Honolulu Marathon on Sunday, December 10th, 2017. If you’d like to help, you can click here to donate.
