Dive Brief:
- Health advocates and the soda industry are both pouring resources into California as two of its cities prepare to vote on a soda tax.
- San Francisco and Berkeley have each scheduled referendums for November on proposals to add a tax to the sale of sugary soft drinks.
- The San Francisco proposal needs a two-thirds vote by residents and would impose a 2 cents per ounce tax. The Berkeley proposal needs only a simple majority and would impose a tax of a penny per ounce.
Dive Insight:
In the past five years, the battle to tax soda as a way to fight obesity has garnered considerable attention, but not a lot of voter support. Some 30 special taxes have been proposed in localities across the nation since 2009. None of them became law.
That may be, as health advocates claim, because the beverage industry is spending millions of dollars to convince voters such laws are too expensive and limit freedom. Or it may be, as the industry claims, because Americans have no interest in adding to their taxes or burdening businesses with new regulations.
Many would say that if there was any place that would support a soda tax, it's the Bay Area. So if the Bay Area says "no," it could be the death of the soda tax concept.