UAE sugar tax changes are a smart policy tool in the war on obesity and diseases

The UAE has had a tax on sugary drinks since 2017. Getty

Sugar has been a part of Middle Eastern cuisine for more than a thousand years, first entering the region from the Indian subcontinent. When it eventually reached Europe, sometime in the Middle Ages, it transformed palettes. “No food refuses sugar,” as one medieval Italian cookbook notes.

But modern science tells us refusal – or, at least, regular abstinence – is a wise choice. In his 2016 book The Case Against Sugar, science reporter Gary Taubes compares sugar to tobacco – addictive, too easily available and detrimental to our health. Public health experts agree, and yet globally the consumption of sugary drinks, in particular, has risen in recent decades.

It is little surprise, then, that so many governments have come to see sugar as a public health threat. Today, more than 100 countries levy taxes on sugar to discourage overconsumption. The UAE is one of them, having introduced a flat tax on sugar-filled soft drinks in 2017. This month, authorities announced a new, more dynamic taxation model, in which the tax level per litre on sugary beverages will be determined by the sugar level per 100ml.

Under the previous flat-tax regime, all companies producing sugary beverages would pay the same amount of tax. The new model is expected to discourage companies from increasing sugar levels by making it more expensive to do so on a directly proportional basis. This system will come into effect at the beginning of next year.

“This approach incentivises manufacturers to reduce sugar levels and empowers consumers to make more informed dietary choices,” the UAE Ministry of Finance said on Friday.

The dangerous consequences of excessive processed sugar by now are well-documented. They include obesity, hypertension and cardiometabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes. In the Middle East, in particular, obesity and diabetes related to diet have been a scourge on public health systems. One study by researchers at Tufts University in the US found that sugary beverages directly contributed to around 15 per cent of diabetes cases in the region.

The consumption of sugary drinks has risen in recent decades

The peril is worsened by the fact that a love of sugar appears to be ingrained in most people. The dopamine release from sugar intake is neurochemically comparable to the effect of opiates. Tobacco companies, masters of addiction science, understand its power; sugar has been a common additive to cigarettes for decades.

In light of this, smart regulation is not only warranted, but crucial. Sugar consumption is an area where taxation has been shown to make a difference in spending habits. One 2019 study of American soft beverage consumers conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, found this to be the case. And policymakers have seen this pattern bear out in parts of the Gulf, too. In Bahrain, the introduction of a sugar tax in 2017 is thought to have contributed to an 8 per cent drop in diabetes between 2011 and 2021.

Of course, taxation is not a silver bullet in the war on sugar. It is just one part of a comprehensive public health policy toolkit. Public awareness is critical to changing not only consumer behaviour, but manufacturers’ corporate strategies. Since the health consequences of sugar became clear, beverage behemoths have introduced sugar-free options which have soared in popularity.

It is likely to take years or even decades to kick society’s sugar habit. The global war on smoking has shown that such policy battles are often long and arduous. But it is worth it for governments to remain persistent. Few rewards are sweeter, for the individual and society as a whole, than good health.