Interview: Two-peso tax aims to cut Mexico's thirst for soda, curb obesity: NGO head

The bill that proposed to raise tax on sugary soda is aimed at curbing Mexico's insatiable thirst for soda and soaring obesity rates, the head of a non-governmental consumer protection organization (NGO) told Xinhua.

Doubling Mexico's one-peso (0.05 U.S. dollar) tax on sugary sodas could reduce consumption by up to 18 percent, proponents of the initiative said.

"What we want is for the price to go up so that it's not prohibitively expensive, but does prevent people from drinking it on a regular basis," said Alejandro Calvillo, director of the Power of the Consumer.

The bill put forward by four senators, with the backing of Mexico's Alliance for Food Health, to which the NGO belongs, calls for raising the tax on soda from one to two pesos per liter, which is calculated to cut consumption between 12 and 18 percent.

"We are among the world's leading consumers of soda and 70 percent of the sugar in the Mexican diet comes from sugary drinks. That's the issue," said Calvillo.

Mexico has already proven that raising the price of soft drinks helps to reduce consumption.

In 2014, the first year it introduced the tax, consumption fell by 6 percent, while the second year saw a drop of 8 percent, the NGO said in a report released earlier this week.

But consumption in Mexico remains alarmingly high. Around the world, the average consumption of sugary drinks is 30 liters per capita, while in Mexico, and Chile, the average is over 100 liters per capita. In some countries, such as India and China, the average is 3.6 and 9.6 liters per capita, the NGO reported.

In Mexico, "average and higher than average consumers drink half a liter or more of soda a day. That has been clinically proven to increase the risk of being overweight, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular ailments," said Calvillo.

In part as a result of Mexico's soda guzzling, obesity and excess weight are increasingly common problems in both Mexico's urban centers and rural towns, the Health Ministry has warned.

Some 72 percent of Mexican adults (48.6 million people), 35 percent of adolescents (6 million) and 34.4 percent of children under 11 (5.6 million) are obese or overweight, the ministry says.

After vigorously fighting the tax before it was imposed, out of fear it would lead consumers to buy less, Mexico's soda industry now claims the tax doesn't work, citing a two-percent rise in sales as of April of this year.

But the NGO says "the industry wants to confuse (the issue) by using rough sales data to argue that consumption has increased."

Calvillo says he is confident the Chamber of Deputies will at least debate the proposed bill.

Even if the bill passes, however, he warns that the measure alone is not enough to improve health in Mexico.

The Power of the Consumer also works to strengthen regulation governing the labeling of foods high in fat, salt and sugar.

"You need all of these measures at the same time, but the tax on sugar drinks is an important tool that has been recommended by the WHO (World Health Organization), and the WHO has applauded Mexico for taking that measure," said Calvillo. Enditem