Principles behind evaluations of national food and beverage taxes and other regulatory efforts

Hawkes, Corinna; Alderman, Harold; Chaloupka, Frank; Harris, Jennifer; and Kumanyika, Shiriki; et al. 2017. Principles behind evaluations of national food and beverage taxes and other regulatory efforts. Obesity Reviews 18(11): 1374–1375. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12594

Considerable controversy surrounds taxes and other regulatory policies (such as restricting marketing to children and setting mandatory standards for foods available in schools) being implemented around the world to discourage unhealthy eating. Thus, it is imperative that, where implemented, these policies are evaluated to the highest standard, considering the specific elements of how the taxes and regulations are designed, existing consumption trends and any weaknesses in the available data used.