The tax on sweeteners, which had been left out of the tax in force since 2014, was the point that most mobilized the different sectors involved and the one that sparked the most debate because the use of Low-calorie sweeteners do not have a consensus on their health effects.
There are voices that consider that they can also increase the risk of diabetes and that they do not prevent overweight in the long term. While the food and beverage sector claims that they are an important alternative to replace products with high calorie levels and denies that they are unsafe.
The health authorities, precisely, appealed to those arguments to negotiate with the industry.
The Undersecretary of Integration and Development of the Health Sector, Eduardo Clark, stated that, in exchange for a lower tax, The companies committed to reformulate their products to lower their caloric density. For example, Coca-Cola committed to reducing calorie content by 30% of their drinks.
“What we agreed to today leads to an improvement in the health of Mexicans”
Eduardo Clark, Undersecretary of Integration and Development of the Ssa.
The fight against diabetes and obesity
The ultimate goal is to reduce consumption of sugary drinks associated with the development of chronic diseases, explained Eduardo Clark this Thursday in a conference in the Chamber of Deputies, when announcing the agreement before the start of the parliamentary discussion.
Obesity and diabetes are highly prevalent conditions in Mexico and contribute to the main causes of mortality.
“Today the level of chronic non-communicable diseases, associated with overweight, poor eating habits, which translate into diabetes and hypertension, has us in a clear public health crisis,” he declared.
The sweetener debate
The public health crisis associated with overweight and obesity is one of the main arguments for imposing the Special Tax on Products and Services (IEPS) and why activists, non-governmental organizations and health specialists asked that drinks that contain non-caloric sweeteners also be taxed.
In 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) presented a systematic review of current scientific evidence on the health effects of these artificial sweeteners.
Although some observational studies associate them with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, there is no clear consensus on their effects.
“There is no clear consensus on whether sugar-free sweeteners are effective for long-term weight loss or maintenance, or whether they are related to other long-term health effects,” the WHO said.
Hugo Laviada, endocrinologist and medical researcher at the Marist University of Mérida, states that there is no proof that they are harmful as long as they are used within the limits of accepted daily intake.
The expert explains that Observational studies suggest associations, but not necessarily causation.
“Most studies do not find a relationship between the consumption of these sweeteners and weight gain or the risk of metabolic diseases,” he indicates.
Another discussion is the extremely sweet taste of sweetenerswhich is related to maintaining difficulty in stopping consuming these products. In this regard, Laviada says that they are so sweet that a very small amount should be consumed.
