Study: After Philadelphia Tax, Residents Consume Less Soda

A new study found that after Philadelphia implemented its tax, residents consumed less soda and more water.

The 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax is levied on distributors and applies to energy drinks, diet soda and sugar-added fruit juice beverages.(MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES)

FOLLOWING THE implementation of the "soda tax" in Philadelphia, residents in the city were 40 percent less likely to consume soda.

A new study by Drexel Universitypublished in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine surveyed 900 city residents before and after the tax went into effect. Researchers found that Philadelphians were 40 percent less likely to drink soda everyday and 64 percent less likely to drink an energy drink everyday after the tax went into effect.

In January 2017, a tax went into effect in the city on nonalcoholic sweetened beverages. The 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax is levied on distributors and applies to energy drinks, diet soda and sugar-added fruit juice beverages.

After the tax went into effect, city residents were less likely to consume soda and 58 percent more likely to drink bottled water every day.

Despite the drop in soda consumption, there wasn't a decline in consumption of sugary fruit drinks, such as Snapple and Sunny Delight, even though the tax also applies to these beverages.

Co-author of the study Amy Auchincloss, an associate professor in the Dornsife School of Public Health told Medical Xpress, a study on consumption of beverages instead of sales of beverages "can more directly assess health impacts from the tax."

Added calories and sugar from sweetened beverages are connected to weight gain and frequent consumption of these beverages, Auchincloss said, has been linked to an increased risk of type-2 diabetes, heart disease and tooth decay.