Barbadians could have access to a basket of healthy food options at more affordable prices, although exactly when that will be is uncertain.
Minister of Energy and Business Development Senator Lisa Cummins disclosed on Wednesday that the Government is working on lowering taxes on healthy foods, and one health advocate has suggested to Barbados TODAY that the price reductions for some of those selections should be in the 20 to 30 per cent range.
Addressing the opening of the Barbados Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition (BCOP Coalition) workshop on The Pathway to Octagonal Front of Package Warning Labels on Wednesday at the Accra Beach Resort, Cummins said the time had come for a review of the tax structure on healthy foods.
Declaring that the Government had a responsibility to incentivise residents to make better food choices, she said her ministry was committed to following through on recommendations from recent research that authorities “look at the cost structure, by way of taxes, for healthier items versus those things that were unhealthy”.
“We are committed to also working with you to see what that healthy basket of goods looks like. We are committed to seeing with you how I could pay less for healthier items upfront as opposed to paying a surcharge for if I want to eat brown rice versus white rice, if I want to be able to eat things that are lean versus things that are cheap ,” said Cummins.
In 2022, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados (HSFB) commissioned the study, led by Deputy Principal of the UWI, Cave Hill Campus Professor Winston Moore and Lecturer Dr Antonio Alleyne, to examine whether food prices were prohibitive to healthy eating and to recommend a policy approach to making healthy foods more affordable.
It pointed to the high tariffs attached to food imports such as fresh vegetables and fruits, compared to the low taxes placed on items high in salt, sugar and fat, including cookies, ice cream and chips.
It also illustrated that unhealthy foods, on average, carry an import tariff of 35 per cent, while healthy foods are taxed at around 45 per cent, and proposed that the Government flip the tax rates.
Cummins did not commit to a timeline for completion of the tax review but she told the workshop participants that the Government was now considering the matter and that collaboration among stakeholders would be required.
“We have to be able to make it affordable for people to eat healthy food. That is also an important part of the conversation. It is fine to label it, it is fine to say it is high in salt. Things like [packaged noodle soup], for example, which are incredibly popular are very high in salt, but they are inexpensive and easily accessible. We also have to make things which are healthier just as accessible, as we do things which are filling but are also going to result in cost a little later by way of the health system,” she explained.
“So let us work together on that balancing act and also incentivising, in the first instance, people and consumers, to purchase healthier choices, not just by front of package labelling but by looking at the tax structure that is attached to those healthy products.”
The proposal was immediately welcomed by health advocates who said they were willing to work with the Government in achieving lower prices on healthy food options.
“The common complaint is that healthy eating is very expensive. Therefore, we will be working together and advising on the healthy basket of goods and I have a good feeling about this healthy basket of goods,” said lead policy champion with the HSFB and the BCOP Coalition Professor Anne St John.
Chairman of the National Commission on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCNCD) and former BCOP Coalition chairman Suleiman Bulbulia expressed similar sentiments.
“Whenever we promote a healthier lifestyle and healthier living, the complaint is that it is expensive to eat healthier. So review of a basket of goods that are considered healthy products, bringing the taxes down, will definitely go a long way in appeasing that concern,” he said.
Bulbulia told Barbados TODAY he would recommend that officials look at a reduction of between 20 to 30 per cent on the basket of healthy food options.
“Obviously we will have to work from product to product, but bringing down the cost by 20 to 30 per cent in some cases is going to be important for the consumer. But, of course, there is no fixed amount because it depends on the product,” he said.
The NCNCD chairman added that the reduction in prices on healthier food products “is important for us because that reduces the opportunity for NCD because you are eating healthier and that helps in the battle against and prevention of NCDs”.
