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Industry views of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy: a thematic analysis of elite interviews with food and drink industry professionals, 2018–2020

OBJECTIVES: The UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL), implemented in 2018, has been successful in reducing the sugar content and purchasing of soft drinks, with limited financial impact on industry. Understanding the views of food and drink industry professionals involved in reacting to the SDIL is i...

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Autores principales: Jones, Catrin P, Forde, Hannah, Penney, Tarra L, van Tulleken, Dolly, Cummins, Steven, Adams, Jean, Law, Cherry, Rutter, Harry, Smith, Richard, White, Martin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10414076/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37558451
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072223
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author Jones, Catrin P
Forde, Hannah
Penney, Tarra L
van Tulleken, Dolly
Cummins, Steven
Adams, Jean
Law, Cherry
Rutter, Harry
Smith, Richard
White, Martin
author_facet Jones, Catrin P
Forde, Hannah
Penney, Tarra L
van Tulleken, Dolly
Cummins, Steven
Adams, Jean
Law, Cherry
Rutter, Harry
Smith, Richard
White, Martin
author_sort Jones, Catrin P
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: The UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL), implemented in 2018, has been successful in reducing the sugar content and purchasing of soft drinks, with limited financial impact on industry. Understanding the views of food and drink industry professionals involved in reacting to the SDIL is important for policymaking. However, their perceptions of the challenges of implementation and strategic responses are unknown. The aim of this study, therefore, was to explore how senior food and drink industry professionals viewed the SDIL. DESIGN: We undertook a qualitative descriptive study using elite interviews. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis, taking an inductive exploratory and descriptive approach not informed by prior theory or frameworks. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Interviews were conducted via telephone with 14 senior professionals working in the food and drink industry. RESULTS: Five main themes were identified: (1) a level playing field…for some; industry accepted the SDIL as an attempt to create a level playing field but due to the exclusion of milk-based drinks, this was viewed as inadequate, (2) complex to implement, but no lasting negative effects; the SDIL was complex, expensive and time consuming to implement, with industry responses dependent on leadership buy-in, (3) why us?—the SDIL unfairly targets the drinks industry; soft drinks are an unfair target when other categories also contain high sugar, (4) the consumer is king; consumers were a key focus of the industry response to this policy and (5) the future of the SDIL; there appeared to be a wider ripple effect, which primed industry to prepare for future regulation in support of health and environmental sustainability. CONCLUSIONS: Insights from senior food and drink industry professionals illustrate how sugar-sweetened beverage taxes might be successfully implemented and improve understanding of industry responses to taxes and other food and drink policies. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN18042742.
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spelling pubmed-104140762023-08-11 Industry views of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy: a thematic analysis of elite interviews with food and drink industry professionals, 2018–2020 Jones, Catrin P Forde, Hannah Penney, Tarra L van Tulleken, Dolly Cummins, Steven Adams, Jean Law, Cherry Rutter, Harry Smith, Richard White, Martin BMJ Open Health Policy OBJECTIVES: The UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL), implemented in 2018, has been successful in reducing the sugar content and purchasing of soft drinks, with limited financial impact on industry. Understanding the views of food and drink industry professionals involved in reacting to the SDIL is important for policymaking. However, their perceptions of the challenges of implementation and strategic responses are unknown. The aim of this study, therefore, was to explore how senior food and drink industry professionals viewed the SDIL. DESIGN: We undertook a qualitative descriptive study using elite interviews. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis, taking an inductive exploratory and descriptive approach not informed by prior theory or frameworks. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Interviews were conducted via telephone with 14 senior professionals working in the food and drink industry. RESULTS: Five main themes were identified: (1) a level playing field…for some; industry accepted the SDIL as an attempt to create a level playing field but due to the exclusion of milk-based drinks, this was viewed as inadequate, (2) complex to implement, but no lasting negative effects; the SDIL was complex, expensive and time consuming to implement, with industry responses dependent on leadership buy-in, (3) why us?—the SDIL unfairly targets the drinks industry; soft drinks are an unfair target when other categories also contain high sugar, (4) the consumer is king; consumers were a key focus of the industry response to this policy and (5) the future of the SDIL; there appeared to be a wider ripple effect, which primed industry to prepare for future regulation in support of health and environmental sustainability. CONCLUSIONS: Insights from senior food and drink industry professionals illustrate how sugar-sweetened beverage taxes might be successfully implemented and improve understanding of industry responses to taxes and other food and drink policies. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN18042742. BMJ Publishing Group 2023-08-09 /pmc/articles/PMC10414076/ /pubmed/37558451 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072223 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
spellingShingle Health Policy
Jones, Catrin P
Forde, Hannah
Penney, Tarra L
van Tulleken, Dolly
Cummins, Steven
Adams, Jean
Law, Cherry
Rutter, Harry
Smith, Richard
White, Martin
Industry views of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy: a thematic analysis of elite interviews with food and drink industry professionals, 2018–2020
title Industry views of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy: a thematic analysis of elite interviews with food and drink industry professionals, 2018–2020
title_full Industry views of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy: a thematic analysis of elite interviews with food and drink industry professionals, 2018–2020
title_fullStr Industry views of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy: a thematic analysis of elite interviews with food and drink industry professionals, 2018–2020
title_full_unstemmed Industry views of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy: a thematic analysis of elite interviews with food and drink industry professionals, 2018–2020
title_short Industry views of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy: a thematic analysis of elite interviews with food and drink industry professionals, 2018–2020
title_sort industry views of the uk soft drinks industry levy: a thematic analysis of elite interviews with food and drink industry professionals, 2018–2020
topic Health Policy
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10414076/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37558451
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072223
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