Soda Taxes a Hot Topic at National Soda Summit

Last week’s event included one Connecticut member of Congress calling for a federal soda tax.

June 10, 2014

WASHINGTON – Last week’s second annual National Soda Summit in Washington, D.C., included conversations among attendees regarding the current movement to label or tax soda, including an announcement from U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) that she is working on legislation to tax sugar-sweetened beverages, and hopes to introduce a House bill "in a matter of weeks."

DeLauro addressed attendees via video, saying, "All too often, sugary foods or drinks with high-fructose corn syrup are cheaper as a direct result of government policies. It is long past time that we pass and support policies that work toward better health instead."

The two-day National Soda Summit was organized by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, with support from the American Heart Association, Bloomberg Philanthropies, California Center for Public Health Advocacy, California Endowment and the Kresge Foundation.  

Another speaker during the second day of the summit, from New York City's Department of Health, provided an update on that department's regulation that would limit sales of many sugar-sweetened beverages to portions of 16 ounces or less. That regulation was overturned by a state judge last year, and is now under review by the New York State Court of Appeals.

In addition, representatives from the California Center for Public Health Advocacy described a "Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Safety Warning Act" just passed by the California Senate, which would require a warning label on bottles and cans of sugar-sweetened drinks sold in the state that contain 75 calories or more per 12 fluid ounces.

Also, representatives from a Mexican consumer group described their successful campaign to impose a federal one-peso-per-liter (around 8 cents) tax on sugary soft drinks, which went into effect in January.

In the United States, a number of state and city efforts to impose taxes or implement other policies intended to reduce consumption of sugary beverages have been defeated. Examples include tax proposals in Massachusetts and in Richmond and El Monte, California, and a 2012 proposal in Florida that would have restricted use of food stamps to buy sugary beverages and junk food.

However, proponents continue to introduce taxing and other proposals at the local and state levels, even as the beverage industry, convenience stores and other groups continue to fight such initiatives.

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