Sugar tax, Assobibe: “useless and expensive, 6 out of 10 Italians think so”

The Sugar tax, expected in Italy from 2023, for orange sodas, chinotto, non-alcoholic aperitifs and more generally for all non-alcoholic drinks, is useless for health and harmful to consumers’ pockets. In particular, 60% of consumers do not agree with this measure at all or little because they consider it useless and yet another tax to the detriment especially of the poorest categories. This was revealed by a survey conducted by Nomisma on behalf of Assobibe, the Confindustria association that represents producers of soft drinks. “The dissent of Italians is even more evident when they discover that the tax also affects sugar-free soft drinks: in this case the percentage of those against or not in favor rises to 83%” commented Giangiacomo Pierini, president of Assobibe. The tax is applied to drinks characterized by a sweet taste, whether they are with or without sugar, and is equal to 10 euros per hectolitre of drink which is borne by the producers. But consumer prices will inevitably undergo increases, according to Nomisma’s estimates, the introduction of the tax will result in an average increase of 13% for oranges, 11% for chinotti, sodas, lemonades and non-alcoholic aperitifs just to name a few “, says the President of Assobibe Giangiacomo Pierini commenting on the research. The research also shows that “only 4% of consumers are willing to pay the price increase and the vast majority of consumers are against the sugar tax”. The purpose of the tax is not convincing. : according to the interviewees, in fact, the Sugar tax will not lead to a significant reduction in the consumption of soft drinks since for 76% it will not favor the reduction of obesity among young people or facilitate proper nutrition. Soft drinks are responsible for only 1% of the daily sugar intake.