Germany to introduce a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages and a ban on energy drinks for children

Germany is introducing a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages and a ban on the sale of energy drinks to individuals under 16. This change will be put to a vote in the Bundesrat on Friday. This comes amid growing public and cross-party support for stricter measures against obesity and related diseases. This was reported by Reuters.

The proposal, seen by Reuters and set to be reviewed by the Bundesrat, marks the beginning of the legislative process for such a measure. It does not specify exactly how the tax should be structured. However, it suggests that the funds raised should be used for health initiatives.

“Manufacturers must have an incentive to revise their recipes and reduce sugar content. Until now, such an incentive has not existed,” stated Daniel Günther, the Prime Minister of the state of Schleswig-Holstein and the initiator of the legislative proposal.

The proposal also includes a ban on the sale of energy drinks to children under 16. The reason is the high content of caffeine, taurine, and sugar. “Energy drinks are not harmless trendy beverages,” Günther said. “They can become a real problem, especially for young people,” he added.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 100 countries already tax sugar-sweetened beverages. This includes about half of the European Union member states, such as Belgium, France, and Portugal. However, there is no common policy for such a tax at the EU level, as decisions remain within the jurisdiction of national governments.

Although the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party initially rejected the idea in February, it subsequently received support from parts of the party, as well as from the Greens and the Social Democrats.

Green Party MP Johannes Wagner stated that he supports the proposal, adding that the industry lacks sufficient incentives to voluntarily reduce sugar content. “Anyone who profits from highly sweetened beverages should contribute more to covering the costs they cause,” he said.

For her part, Sabine Dittmar of the Social Democrats described the proposed tax as “reasonable, necessary, and long overdue.” She added that it should be tiered so that beverages with higher sugar content are taxed more heavily.

A study by the Forsa Institute, published in February, shows that approximately 60% of Germans support the introduction of a tax on soft drinks with high sugar content.

A 2023 modeling study led by scientists from the Technical University of Munich shows that a tax similar to the one in the UK could reduce daily sugar intake in Germany by 2–3 grams, prevent or delay up to approximately 244,000 cases of type 2 diabetes over a 20-year period, and save up to 16 billion euros over the same period.

For its part, the German Sugar Industry Association (WVZ) warns that such a “punitive sugar tax” could lead manufacturers to replace sugar with artificial sweeteners without actually improving public health.

“The sugar tax creates the false impression that a single component is responsible for the development of obesity. There is no scientifically reliable evidence for this,” stated the organization’s Director General, Günter Tissen.