Changes in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption in the first two years (2018 – 2020) of San Francisco’s tax: A prospective longitudinal study

Background: Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes are a promising strategy to decrease SSB consumption, and their inequitable health impacts, while raising revenue to meet social objectives. In 2016, San Francisco passed a one cent per ounce tax on SSBs. This study compared SSB consumption in San Francisco to that in San José, before and after tax implementation in 2018.
Methods & findings: A longitudinal panel of adults (n = 1,443) was surveyed from zip codes in San Francisco and San José, CA with higher densities of Black and Latino residents, racial/ethnic groups with higher SSB consumption in California. SSB consumption was measured at baseline (11/17–1/18), one (11/18–1/19), and two years (11/19-1/20) after the SSB tax was implemented in January 2018. Average daily SSB consumption (in ounces) was ascertained using the BevQ-15 instrument and modeled as both continuous and binary (high consumption: ≥6 oz (178 ml) versus low consumption: <6 oz) daily beverage intake measures. We..., The three waves of the study utilized a “push-to-web” data collection method, in which sampled households were sent an invitation via mail, text, and/or E-mail to complete an online Web questionnaire. Additional web completes were collected using a non-probability web panel. Questionnaires were completed in English, Spanish, or Chinese. Data from each wave were appended together--each row/observation is unique to participant ID and wave. Variables for the study were constructed using Stata. More details on methodology can be found in SSB_Sampling_and_Data_Collection_Methodology.pdf and SSB_Analytic_Sample_Creation_Flowchart.pdf., Data are in CSV format. Documentation is in PDF format. Code is in Stata format (.do) and can also be opened as a text file.Â