Sugar and plastic, two enemies to fight with taxes?

The introduction of new taxes to discourage the use of sugar in carbonated soft drinks and plastic in common use make much discussion. Especially in light of the fact that, as far as sugar is concerned, the world's largest industrial beverage companies have already reduced their percentage quantities since 2015. It was mentioned on February 22 in Turin, during the Food Journalism Festival.

The sugar tax in Italy should enter into force next October but in the meantime we look at the countries where it is already a reality. "There are no studies showing what has changed about people's lifestyles where the tax was introduced" explained Pietro Paganini of Competere.eu. “In Chile, for example, an evaluation was conducted on the impact on consumption of carbonated and sweetened drinks, which actually decreased, but not on the impact of the decrease in sugar of these products on health. However, studies show that consumption has decreased in the upper sections of the population, while the use of carbonated drinks has remained the same among the poorest ".

“Taxing plastic - sums up Agostino Macrì of the Consumers Union - would have on the one hand the indisputable advantage of discouraging the use and consequently the production of a substance that damages the environment, but would have a direct cost on families of 42 euros per year per family ". "Perhaps - Macrì concludes - before proceeding to increase the national tax burden it would be useful to look for alternative measures to the use of plastic and invest in consumer education".