Over-consumption of sugar, which is prevalent recently, is a major contributor to health problems like tooth decay or diabetes. To cut sugar intake, some propose increasing the price of sugary products. Is this proposal viable? Yes.
? 開頭段的寫作不用長,改寫題干+問題即可。倒也不必一味陳述句,嘗試自問自答一下。
? Tooth decay n. 蛀牙
? Viable adj. 可行的
? Prevalent adj. 普遍存在的
? Cut v. 減少
02
Making sugary products more expensive, at first glance, seems unfair and regressive, as it fails to take into account people’s incomes, and it may disproportionately impact low earners. As a result, while the low-income people may consume less sugar-based products, those higher earners, who find the increased cost immaterial, are highly likely to keep the status quo. In this case, this proposal can hardly reduce the overall sugar consumption. A closer look, however, suggests that it is actually a feasible approach with far-reaching implications.
First, this approach is a signal, conveying a message that the authorities recognize the excessive intake of these products are hazardous to health. For those high earners who are health-conscious enough, they would definitely control their sugar intake in response to the message. And what if they are not, their extra expenses on sugary products, generating taxes, would at least increases the government’s revenues, which could be allocated to health promotion campaigns aiming to instill in people health awareness. Sooner or later more people would cultivate health awareness, thereby curtailing sugar intake. In addition, with more people consciously curbing sugar consumption, the increased price actually incentivizes manufacturers to develop alternative products catering to customers’ changing tastes. For example, they may remove sugar in bread, lower sugar in beverages, or replace sugar in biscuits. Hence, people are allowed to shift their demand to those low-sugar substitutes.
In conclusion, in terms of curbing people’s sugar consumption, increasing the price of sugary products, which decreases their sales, is effective, but it can really do so much more - funding health promotion activities and behooving manufacturers to remake products.