Limerick study highlights interesting price disparity in soft drinks

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The study was a collaboration between researchers at the University of Limerick and Technological University of the Shannon.

Full-sugar soft drinks are often the same price as diet options, despite having a levy on sugar.

A study from the University of Limerick and Technological University of the Shannon examined the effectiveness of the sugar tax, which was introduced in 2018.

Even in instances where the full-sugar option was more expensive, the price difference was often still less than the levy.

Principal Investigator at TUS’s HEALR ((pron: healer)) research group, Frank Houghton says it’s unclear who is at fault:

“A colleague of mine, Jennifer Monswit, spoke to the manufacturers, and they are adamant that they are passing on the price difference. It really leaves two options.

Houghton continued: “One is that retailers are simply absorbing this tax themselves, and the other, somewhat less palatable, is that they are raising the price of the diet drinks by the equivalent of the sugar tax. You know, a form of price gouging, really”.