IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0205694.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regulatory initiatives to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in Latin America

Author

Listed:
  • Paola Bergallo
  • Valentina Castagnari
  • Alicia Fernández
  • Raúl Mejía

Abstract

Background and objectives: Latin American (LA) countries have begun to adopt a variety of regulations targeting sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) for public health reasons. Our objective was to characterize the regulatory strategies designed to reduce SSB consumption over the last decade, and assess the available evidence on their enforcement and impact. Methods: We searched legal and public health databases for public and private SSBs regulations in 14 LA countries and then conducted a systematic review of the available literature. We tracked comparative variations in the type of body issuing the regulations, their scope, and binding status. We present data following a 5-category framework we named NUTRE that classifies SSBs regulations as: (1) restrictions to SSB availability in schools (N), (2) taxes and other economic incentives to discourage consumption (U), (3) restrictions on advertising and marketing (T), (4) regulations on government procurement and subsidies (R), and (5) product labeling rules (E). Results: Since 2006, 14 LA countries have adopted at least 39 public and private SSB regulatory initiatives across the NUTRE framework. Comprehensive efforts have only been approved by Chile, México and Ecuador, while the rest have comparatively few initiatives. 28 out of the 39 regulatory initiatives were passed by legislative and executive bodies; 11 initiatives represent self-regulatory undertakings by the beverage industries. An 86% (24/28) of public sector regulations are binding; 56% (22/39) contain explicit monitoring or evaluation methods; and 62% (24/39) provide for sanctions. Moreover, 23 regulations specify the body in charge of monitoring the new rules and standards. Conclusions: LA countries are targeting SSB consumption through a variety of mechanisms, particularly via restrictions to availability in schools and through taxes. Interdisciplinary evidence comparing alternative regulatory strategies is scarce, and few studies offer data on impact and implementation challenges. More evidence and further comparative assessments are needed to support future decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Paola Bergallo & Valentina Castagnari & Alicia Fernández & Raúl Mejía, 2018. "Regulatory initiatives to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in Latin America," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0205694
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205694
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0205694
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0205694&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0205694?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gostin, L.O. & Cathaoir, K.O. & Roache, S.A. & Magnusson, R.S. & Krech, R. & Solomon, S.A. & Walton, D. & Kieny, M.-P. & Patterson, D.W. & Burci, G.L., 2017. "Advancing the right to health - The vital role of law," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 107(11), pages 1755-1756.
    2. repec:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2017.304077_4 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. David M Studdert & Jordan Flanders & Michelle M Mello, 2015. "Searching for Public Health Law’s Sweet Spot: The Regulation of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(7), pages 1-10, July.
    4. Franck, C. & Grandi, S.M. & Eisenberg, M.J., 2013. "Taxing junk food to counter obesity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(11), pages 1949-1953.
    5. M A Colchero & Carlos Manuel Guerrero-López & Mariana Molina & Juan Angel Rivera, 2016. "Beverages Sales in Mexico before and after Implementation of a Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(9), pages 1-8, September.
    6. Falbe, J. & Thompson, H.R. & Becker, C.M. & Rojas, N. & McCulloch, C.E. & Madsen, K.A., 2016. "Impact of the Berkeley excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverage consumption," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(10), pages 1865-1871.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hannah G Lawman & Sara N Bleich & Jiali Yan & Michael T LeVasseur & Nandita Mitra & Christina A Roberto, 2019. "Unemployment claims in Philadelphia one year after implementation of the sweetened beverage tax," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(3), pages 1-10, March.
    2. Hagenaars, Luc Louis & Jeurissen, Patrick Paulus Theodoor & Klazinga, Niek Sieds, 2017. "The taxation of unhealthy energy-dense foods (EDFs) and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs): An overview of patterns observed in the policy content and policy context of 13 case studies," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(8), pages 887-894.
    3. Julio C. Arteaga & Daniel Flores & Edgar Luna, 2021. "The effect of a soft drink tax in Mexico: evidence from time series industry data," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 65(2), pages 349-366, April.
    4. Ahmed Mohammed Alqarni, 2020. "Saudi Smokers' Behaviors After a 100% Tax Increase," International Journal of Marketing Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(1), pages 150-150, March.
    5. Lluc Puig-Codina & Jaime Pinilla & Jaume Puig-Junoy, 2021. "The impact of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages on cola purchasing in Catalonia: an approach to causal inference with time series cross-sectional data," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(1), pages 155-168, February.
    6. Leider, Julien & Powell, Lisa M., 2022. "Longer-term impacts of the Oakland, California, sugar-sweetened beverage tax on prices and volume sold at two-years post-tax," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    7. Powell, Lisa M. & Jones, Kelly & Duran, Ana Clara & Tarlov, Elizabeth & Zenk, Shannon N., 2019. "The price of ultra-processed foods and beverages and adult body weight: Evidence from U.S. veterans," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 39-48.
    8. Jakina Debnam, 2017. "Selection Effects and Heterogeneous Demand Responses to the Berkeley Soda Tax Vote," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(5), pages 1172-1187.
    9. Ragna Stalsberg & Arve Vorland Pedersen, 2018. "Are Differences in Physical Activity across Socioeconomic Groups Associated with Choice of Physical Activity Variables to Report?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-23, May.
    10. Neuhofer, Zachary & McFadden, Brandon R. & Rihn, Alicia & Wei, Xuan & Khachatryan, Hayk & House, Lisa, 2020. "Can the updated nutrition facts label decrease sugar-sweetened beverage consumption?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    11. Levasseur, Pierre, 2021. "Do junk food bans in school really reduce childhood overweight? Evidence from Brazil," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    12. Elena Ye. Chernyakova & Anna F. Bogatyreva & Ekaterina A. Yastrebova, 2023. "Международный Опыт Налогообложения Сахаросодержащих Напитков," Russian Economic Development (in Russian), Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 12, pages 65-73, December.
    13. Sara Capacci & Olivier Allais & Celine Bonnet & Mario Mazzocchi, 2019. "The impact of the French soda tax on prices and purchases. An ex post evaluation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-22, October.
    14. Alyssa J. Moran & Yuxuan Gu & Sasha Clynes & Attia Goheer & Christina A. Roberto & Anne Palmer, 2020. "Associations between Governmental Policies to Improve the Nutritional Quality of Supermarket Purchases and Individual, Retailer, and Community Health Outcomes: An Integrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-23, October.
    15. Dogbe, W. & Gil, J.M., 2018. "Effects of a modified Danish fat tax on food consumption and nutrients intake in Spain," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277237, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Yichen Zhong & Amy H. Auchincloss & Brian K. Lee & Ryan M. McKenna & Brent A. Langellier, 2020. "Sugar-Sweetened and Diet Beverage Consumption in Philadelphia One Year after the Beverage Tax," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-12, February.
    17. Alberto Pench, 2020. "Time Allocation and Snacks and Sugar Sweetened Beverages Taxation," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 6(3), pages 469-492, November.
    18. Knox, Melissa A. & Oddo, Vanessa M. & Walkinshaw, Lina Pinero & Jones-Smith, Jessica, 2020. "Is the public sweet on sugary beverages? Social desirability bias and sweetened beverage taxes," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    19. Borumand, Ali & Marandi, Ahmadreza & Nookabadi, Ali S. & Atan, Zümbül, 2024. "An oracle-based algorithm for robust planning of production routing problems in closed-loop supply chains of beverage glass bottles," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    20. Zhai, Tianchang & Li, Lei & Wang, Jingjing & Si, Wei, 2022. "Will the consumption tax on sugar-sweetened beverages help promote healthy beverage consumption? Evidence from urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0205694. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.