The FIZZ report says that soft drinks are the largest contributor of added sugar to the New Zealand diet, for both children and adults. You would expect plenty of opposition from the industry if a tax was tried here. Ahead of the soft drink tax coming to the UK in 2018, the industry is "fighting every step of the way," Swinburn says. The latest volley is the British Soft Drinks Association's claim that the tax would take 4000 jobs out of the UK economy. But the idea that soft drink taxes cost jobs was disputed by the American Journal of Public Health in 2014.
Claim, counterclaim. The same information wars happen in New Zealand. The Food and Grocery Council (FGC) speaks for the industry and is fronted by chief executive Katherine Rich, a former National government minister. The FGC published a response to the FIZZ group's report and argued that the experience in Mexico shows that sugar taxes do not work.
"The Mexican soda tax has generated billions of pesos, and after a slight decline initially, sales soon returned to pre-tax levels," the FGC said.
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