Taxing Sugared Beverages: Good for Health or Too Much Big Brother?

New Proposal Could Sweeten Tax Revenues, Waistlines

OPINION By KELLY BROWNELL, Ph.D.
Director, Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity
Abc News

As with every disaster, the state of our economy highlights opportunities for good health and risks of doing more damage.

Some believe that placing an additional tax on sugary beverages could be a profitable way to help combat the obesity epidemic.

(ABC News Photo Illustration)

Desperate for revenue, states are considering taxes on sugared beverages, those drinks with added sugar, high fructose corn syrup or other caloric sweeteners.

Forty states now have taxes on soft drinks or snack foods, all too small to affect consumer decisions. But bigger changes may be on the way with recent proposals, most notably an 18 percent tax on sugared beverages put forward by the governor of New York.

Nobody likes the idea of more taxes, so the bar must be set high to consider such action, particularly given the strenuous objections of the beverage industry.

The first question is, "Why pick on sugared beverages?" There are many contributors to ill health (genes, environment, physical inactivity and more). Even considering foods leaves many possibilities; fast food and snack foods would be examples. Read more...