Characterising public opinion for food-based fiscal policies in the UK
Various fiscal policies have been proposed to incentivise healthy and sustainable diets, with differing attributes and levels. Public support can influence the ability for such policies to be implemented but is currently poorly understood, so two discrete choice experiments (DCEs) were used to measure such preferences among 2020 adults in the UK. The attributes and levels for 192 policy options were identified using a scoping review that comprehensively documented existing or proposed food-based fiscal policies. For health-related taxes and subsidies, options that prioritised protecting the NHS budget were most preferred for all respondents, which held across variation in 9 respondent characteristics. For sustainability taxes, avoiding donating to other countries was a clear priority for all respondents, and again held across 9 respondent characteristics. These results could help to shape UK policy while these methods could be used to understand policy preferences elsewhere.
Authors
- Hannah Forde (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7447-7264)
- Henning Tarp Jensen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4526-458X)
- Asha Kaur (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0617-2287)
- John Buckell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4157-4217)
- Ben Amies‐Cull (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7079-1288)
- Marcus Keogh-Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7556-0016)
- Jessica Renzella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1218-851X)
- Laura Cornelsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3769-8740)
- Lauren Bandy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5551-8390)
- Thomas O. Hancock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8922-0901)
- Sian Taylor
- Margarida Bica
- Mike Rayner
- Peter Scarborough
- Richard Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3837-6559)
- Owen Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5238-9627)
- Jane Ward
Institutions
- University of Exeter (GB)
- Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (GB)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- Nuffield Health (GB)
- Primary Health Care (QA)
- Oxford BioMedica (United Kingdom) (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Social Science & Medicine
- Published
- 2026-04-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119269
- Primary Topic
- Agricultural Economics and Policy
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Economic and Social Research Council
- Public Health Research Programme
- School for Public Health Research
- NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre