TY - JOUR
T1 - The effects of minimum unit pricing for alcohol on food purchases
T2 - Evaluation of a natural experiment
AU - Kopasker, Daniel
AU - Whybrow, Stephen
AU - McKenzie, Lynda
AU - McNamee, Paul
AU - Ludbrook, Anne
N1 - Funding Information:
The Health Economics Research Unit is supported by the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates (SGHSC) . Financial support for the study was received from the CSO . DK was also funded by the Medical Research Council ( MC_UU_00022/2 ) and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office ( SPHSU17 ). The views expressed here are those of the Health Economics Research Unit ( University of Aberdeen ) and not necessarily those of any funding body. Results and interpretation are the authors' own from Kantar Worldpanel data.
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Background: On the 1st of May 2018 Scotland became the first country to introduce minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol sales. The objective of this study is to identify the effects of this policy instrument on food purchasing by evaluating a natural experiment. Methods: Longitudinal analysis compares regions with similar characteristics but differing exposure to MUP (Scotland and the north of England). Secondary data from the Kantar Worldpanel on itemised purchases between April 2017 and April 2019 provided a total sample of 8051 households. The outcomes analysed are weekly household expenditure (£s) and purchase volume (grams), both overall and disaggregated to 16 product categories. Results: Following the introduction of MUP, total household food expenditure in Scotland declined by 1.0%, 95%CI [-1.9%, −0.0%], and total food volume declined by 0.8%, 95%CI [-1.7%, 0.2%] compared to the north of England. There is variation in response between product categories, with less spending on fruit and vegetables and increased spending on crisps and snacks. Conclusion: Minimum unit pricing for alcohol has displaced some household food purchasing and the pattern of changes in food categories appears to be less desirable from a healthy diet perspective. However, changes caused by a minimum price at a nominal 50 pence per unit of alcohol are relatively small.
AB - Background: On the 1st of May 2018 Scotland became the first country to introduce minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol sales. The objective of this study is to identify the effects of this policy instrument on food purchasing by evaluating a natural experiment. Methods: Longitudinal analysis compares regions with similar characteristics but differing exposure to MUP (Scotland and the north of England). Secondary data from the Kantar Worldpanel on itemised purchases between April 2017 and April 2019 provided a total sample of 8051 households. The outcomes analysed are weekly household expenditure (£s) and purchase volume (grams), both overall and disaggregated to 16 product categories. Results: Following the introduction of MUP, total household food expenditure in Scotland declined by 1.0%, 95%CI [-1.9%, −0.0%], and total food volume declined by 0.8%, 95%CI [-1.7%, 0.2%] compared to the north of England. There is variation in response between product categories, with less spending on fruit and vegetables and increased spending on crisps and snacks. Conclusion: Minimum unit pricing for alcohol has displaced some household food purchasing and the pattern of changes in food categories appears to be less desirable from a healthy diet perspective. However, changes caused by a minimum price at a nominal 50 pence per unit of alcohol are relatively small.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134761535&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101174
DO - 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101174
M3 - Article
C2 - 35898560
AN - SCOPUS:85134761535
VL - 19
JO - SSM - Population Health
JF - SSM - Population Health
SN - 2352-8273
M1 - 101174
ER -
