New York Health Official Calls for Tax on Drinks With Sugar
A month after Gov. David A. Paterson dropped his proposal for a soda tax, New York City’s health commissioner has written an article advocating “hefty” taxes on sodas and sports drinks containing sugar. Such a tax, the article said, could be the biggest boon to public health since tobacco taxes.
"The commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, and Kelly D. Brownell of Yale University, his co-author, argue in the New England Journal of Medicine that a tax of a penny per ounce could reduce consumption by more than 10 percent and raise $1.2 billion a year in New York State alone.

“It is difficult to imagine producing behavior change of this magnitude through education alone, even if government devoted massive resources to the task,” said the article, published in the journal’s April 30 issue and released online Wednesday. “Only heftier taxes will significantly reduce consumption.”

But city officials said they were unlikely to propose such a tax, which would need the approval of the State Legislature. Mr. Paterson had proposed an 18 percent tax on nondiet soda, estimating it would raise $400 million a year, but deemed it doomed in February and dropped it in March because of public, industry and legislative opposition.

Marc LaVorgna, a spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, said Tuesday when asked about the article that the mayor liked having his commissioners come up with “cutting-edge ideas,” but that a soda tax “is just not one that we’re going to be pursuing.”

Asked separately Tuesday about the problem of childhood obesity, Mr. Bloomberg praised the governor for broaching a soda tax but noted that “there was an enormous outcry.”

“It just tells you how difficult this battle is going to be,” he said. “But we have to do something to help our children, because if we can help them now, they’re going to have a much better life.”

Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association, issued a statement on Wednesday responding to the article: “We agree that obesity is a serious and complex problem. It defies both science and common sense, however, to think singling out one product as a unique contributor to obesity will make a dent in the problem.”

Ms. Neely disputed the link between sugar-laden drinks and obesity, saying that soft drink sales have been declining for much of this decade, as obesity rates have been rising.

Dr. Frieden has helped lead the city’s public-health campaigns to reduce smoking, ban trans fats, and post calorie counts in chain restaurants. He credits the city’s antismoking campaign with persuading 300,000 adults to stop smoking since 2002. But an estimated 1 million New Yorkers still smoke, despite cigarette taxes that are among the highest in the country. There is also a booming market in bootleg cigarettes, and some worry that a soda tax might lead to similar underground sales.

In the article, Dr. Frieden and Dr. Brownell, director of Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, say that based on experience with tobacco taxes, a soda tax would be “highly effective” in reducing the $79 billion in annual health care costs associated with obesity and overweight across the country.

They argue that an excise tax would be more effective than a traditional sales tax and provide an incentive to buy less soda. The article says that since the mid-1990s, children have been drinking more beverages containing sugar than they do milk.

“Diet-related diseases also cost society in terms of decreased work productivity, increased absenteeism, poorer school performance and reduced fitness on the part of military recruits,” it adds.

In a recent interview, Dr. Frieden said that the Bloomberg administration had tried to combat obesity through calorie labeling, banning trans fats and serving 1 percent milk in school cafeterias.

But, he said, “Soda is the big one.”

tate. Obama is going to have to Man up and revoke the Bush tax cuts, or watch the states bleed dry. There I said it.

Frazzled wrote:And babies. Man they cost a lot.

ShumaGorath wrote:

Frazzled wrote:And babies. Man they cost a lot.

Frazzled: A serious poster with serious ideas.

Frazzled wrote:Go Bears!

BlueGiant wrote:Clearly, Bodichi, you have no idea how welfare actually works and what it actually does given what you just said.

Redbeard wrote:
I can get on board with this...

(Hoping Jay Cutler works out... my wife & I are season ticket holders, it should be a good year)

Frazzled wrote:They don't want to make a difference. They just want the money. The "we're doing it for your health," is used along similar lines as "we're doing it for the children."