The Israeli government is abolishing its sugar tax after barely a year, following the lead of Denmark, Norway, Chicago and other places around the world where the public have seen through this regressive tax grab. Like many such taxes, it wasn't really a sugar tax at all as it also applied to artificially sweetened beverages. It was just a money-grabbing shake-down.
An op-ed in The Lancet offers a chance for us to bathe in nanny statists' tears, so let's turn on the taps.
As members of the World Federation of Public Health Associations Non-Communicable Diseases Prevention & Health Promotion and Policy Working Groups...
Snappy name!
... and other leading scholars of nutrition policy, health sciences, and economics, we would like to convey extreme concern over the Israeli Finance Minister's decision to revoke the sweetened beverage tax as his first act on his first day in office.
Not just concern, but extreme concern!
This decision, taken without consulting the civil service professionals in the ministries of health or finance, or without conducting any other independent expert review, is a grievous blow to public health.
Imagine taking a decision based on what you promised in a recent election rather than doing what 'civil service professionals' want you to do. How grievous!
It runs counter to clear guidance from international agencies such as WHO and The World Bank...
Why does the World Bank have a corporate view on sweetened beverage taxes?
... as well as evidence from the Bank of Israel itself, showing that the tax substantially reduced sweetened beverage consumption.
I'm not sure why the Bank of Israel got involved, but we know from many other jurisdictions that a reduction in sugary drink consumption does not typically lead to a reduction in overall sugar consumption, let alone calorie consumption, and that sugar taxes have never been accompanied by a decline in obesity.
Revoking the tax will undoubtedly harm lives and increase the direct and indirect economic costs to Israel's health system and economy, both in the short term and long term.
Codswallop on stilts. Cry more.
More broadly, this act undermines hard won progress made elsewhere around the world.
Good! This must explain why eight of the nine authors of this tear-stained tract are based in Geneva, Britain or the USA and only one is in Israel itself. It's no surprise to see Barry Popkin's name among them. Popkin has been campaigning for soda taxes longer than anyone and his name appears on a whole bunch of studies spuriously claiming that a soda tax has 'worked' somewhere or other, such as Berkeley, Mexico and Chile, usually in the journal PLoS One which he happens to be on the board of.
It is a serious setback for evidence-based public health policy and will be celebrated by vested interests who promote their products and disregard the need for policies that uphold the public's health and welfare.
It will also be celebrated by consumers in Israel, most of whom did not want the tax in the first place, and by people like me who just enjoy watching 'public health' hucksters throwing their toys out of the pram.
This decision will be seen as prioritising sectorial political interests over incontrovertible scientific evidence and public health best practice.
Bloody democracy, eh?
This decision seriously tarnishes Israel's international standing, its medical, scientific, and technological leadership, and reputation as an exemplar of sensible, evidence-based policy.
It really doesn't.
We support our colleagues in the Israeli health professions and society at large in calling on the Government of Israel to reconsider and retract this ill-conceived and hasty decision. Instead, let the revenue from the soda tax be used to combat chronic diseases including obesity, as well as promote nutrition security by increasing economic access to healthy diets, narrowing health disparities, improving the health and welfare of all Israeli citizens, and setting an example for world health leadership.
It's not leadership if you're just copying what lots of other countries have already done, is it? If anything Israel is showing leadership by standing up for the people against grubby 'public health' killjoys.
If you want more tax revenue for healthcare, there are better ways of getting it. Sugar taxes have never worked anywhere in the world, they weren't going to work in Israel and the sooner other countries get rid of them, the better.
