Assessing the effectiveness of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax and traffic light labelling (TLL) on consumers’ SSB use

Thematic Area: Human Resource Development

Start Date: February 1, 2025

In line with the global recommended practices to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption, the Sri Lankan Government introduced regulations and taxes for SSB products. To reduce consumption by improving consumers’ knowledge, the Traffic Light Labeling (TLL) system for SSBs was introduced in August 2016. Further, to reduce affordability, an excise tax was introduced for SSBs in November 2017. However, while many policies are in place, the extent of their reach to consumers and impact is not clear due to data gaps. To fill this gap, our study assessed the effectiveness of the SSB tax and TLL on reducing unhealthy SSB consumption.

The key objectives of this study:

• Assessing consumers’ response to TLL when making an SSB choice using the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) method.
• Estimating the potential decrease in the consumption of the SSBs due to the SSB taxes on sugary drinks, the study estimated elasticity of demand for SSBs.