Despite pleas from sweet manufacturers and distributors a twenty percent tax on sweet drinks takes effect tomorrow.
And, the Barbados Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition, which recommended the tax increase, insists it’s a good decision.
Nicole Foster, Deputy Dean of the law Faculty at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, and a member of the coalition tells Starcom Network News that data show consumption of sweet drinks in Barbados is extremely high.
Ms. Foster, who also heads the law and health research unit at the Cave Hill Law faculty, has some advice for the sweet drink manufacturers and distributors.
Senior Lecturer in Qualitative Research with the George Alleyne Centre for Research at Cave Hill, Dr. Maddy Murphy, is also in favour of the 20 per cent tax on sweetened drinks.
