National
Food and Nutrition
State bills banning taxes on sugary drinks gain momentum
FoodDive, 6/5/2018
Since 2015 when Berkeley, California implemented a soda tax in an effort to reduce the consumption of sugary beverages, the controversial initiative has appeared in other places such as Philadelphia and briefly in Cook County, Illinois…
Soda giants PepsiCo, Coca-Cola Co. and Dr Pepper Snapple have blasted these measures as a money grab by municipalities, saying they unfairly singled out sweetened beverages when the intention was to improve public health by reducing sugar intake.
It’s not a surprise that the soda industry — behind the American Beverage Association trade group — has gotten more active in the legislative process to prevent these taxes from being implemented in the first place.