by Carlos Atwell
Some Barbadians are determined to keep buying sugar sweetened drinks regardless of cost.
Be it for an older or younger relative, for health reasons or just because they like the taste, some people are still picking up their sodas/soft drinks despite the recent tax enacted on them.
From April 1, the Mia Amor Mottley led administration enacted a sugar-sweetened beverage tax where an extra ten per cent was placed on the already existing ten per cent. During the 2022 Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals in March, Mottley said the high consumption of foods with high sugar and salt content continued to undermine the efforts to fight non communicable diseases (NCD), adding the tax was a signal to manufacturers and consumers that the sugar intake must be curbed.
The move garnered praise from medical and economic professionals as well as organisations such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition, the Barbados National NCD Commission, the World Health Organisation and more. (CA)
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