Californian City of Berkeley Votes to Tax Sugary Drinks

06 Nov 2014 --- The US city of Berkeley in California has voted in favor of a tax on sugary drinks, the first specifically targeting soda consumption in the US. Berkeley is to levy a one-cent per ounce tax on sugary beverages, a move that supporters say will reduce consumption and battle obesity and diabetes.

“Berkeley voters have shown it can be done. A community's health can trump Big Soda's insatiable appetite for profit. With passage of Measure D, Berkeley is now poised to make a welcome dent in soda consumption and in the city's rates of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other soda-related diseases. And importantly, the city will now have an important new stream of revenue it will use to promote children's health. This is a historic victory for public health and a historic defeat for the increasingly disreputable soda industry,” the lobby group the CSPI reported.

“Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and the American Beverage Association can no longer count on spending their way to victory. But they better keep their checkbooks out: We expect that cities, towns, and state legislatures all over the country are taking a close look at what happened in Berkeley and many will be readying similar campaigns to tax soda in the years to come.”

The Center for Science in the Public Interest also supports a federal tax on sugar drinks. Last July, Rep. Rosa DeLauro introduced the SWEET Act, which would impose a one-cent tax per teaspoon of sugar in soft drinks. Such a tax would both reduce drink consumption and raise upwards of $10 billion a year that could be used for health programs. CSPI donated $15,000 to the Yes on D campaign.

The American Beverage Association commented: “People don’t support taxes and bans on common grocery items, like soft drinks. That’s why the public policy debate has largely moved on from taxes and bans. Our industry will continue working with serious policy leaders to focus on meaningful solutions that address the complex issue of obesity.”

“America’s leading beverage companies have set a goal to reduce beverage calories consumed per person by 20 percent by 2025. This is the single-largest voluntary effort by an industry to help fight obesity and will transform the beverage landscape in America. This partnership leverages the marketing, innovation and distribution strengths of America’s leading beverage companies to work toward a common goal of reducing beverage calories in the American diet. We are committed to providing consumers with more choices, smaller portions and fewer calories, and this initiative takes that to an ambitious new level.”

“This commitment builds on a long track record of beverage industry leadership. We have supported parents by removing full-calorie sodas from schools, cutting calories available from beverages in schools by 90 percent. We are empowering consumers to make the choices that are right for them by placing clear calorie labels on the front of all our products. We’ve expanded options for consumers by providing more smaller-portion sizes and no- and lower-calorie beverages. These efforts are in place, working and will have an impact far greater than a tax ever could.”

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