I remain skeptical that there will be any state or federal taxes levied on the sugar and other high-calorie sweetener content of soft drinks or other sugar-laden edibles.
Nonetheless, the drumbeat of health experts endorsing such a policy shift is growing, as noted in this story from Medpage Today.
Since extensive evidence ties sugary drinks to an epidemic of obesity and related health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes, they should be taxed to curb consumption and help pay for increasing healthcare costs, said David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD, of Children’s Hospital Boston.
Ludwig is one of the authors of the sugar tax proposal, published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“It’s a very large and growing problem,” Ludwig said. “And given the massive budget deficits we have in Washington, we need to raise money somehow. If we target a product like sugar-sweetened beverages, we get two benefits — increasing federal revenue while at the same time diminishing risk for obesity.”
The proposal calls for an excise tax of “a penny an ounce” for beverages that have any added caloric sweeteners, Ludwig said. It would be levied on producers and wholesalers rather than on retailers, which would make it “easier to collect and enforce,” the researchers said.
A sales tax, on the other hand, would only “encourage the purchase of lower-priced brands, or of large containers that cost less per ounce.”
The Wall Street Journal health blog also takes a look at soda taxes today. Bottom line: even with the taxes in place, sodas will be less expensive than beverages with actual nutrient content, such as orange juice. This is one of those times when the magic of the marketplace isn’t so magical.
