Tax sodas to fight obesity says mayor of San Francisco

Dec 27 2007

The mayor of San Francisco, in an attempt to improve the overall health of citizens, is considering a tax on sodas and other drinks which are artificially sweetened by high-fructose corn syrup.

Mayor Gavin Newsom plans to explore the possibility of imposing a small tax on retailers who sell such beverages.

Newsom says beverages sweetened by high-fructose corn syrup go against all efforts to combat obesity.

He says there is mounting evidence that children are increasingly at risk for poor health because of such drinks, and feels it is time to 'explore every avenue and examine every innovative idea, in the hope of making obesity a thing of the past'.

Apparently apart from regulating citizens' health and fighting the growing problem of obesity, the tax would also be used to further extend Shape Up San Francisco, a city program aimed at encouraging people to engage in exercise, healthy diets, and other similar preventive practices.

The initiative would be a response to findings by the state's public health department, which have revealed a 500 percent increase in the number of calorically sweetened beverages in the past 50 years.

These drinks have been identified as one of the leading sources of excess sugar in children's diets and the increase in the consumption of these drinks is linked to childhood obesity - a link that is much stronger than other identified factors, such as high fat content, or decreased physical activity.

Soft-drink makers are of course not enamored with the idea and say the mayor’s plan is a “flawed strategy” that would have little effect and obesity is a complex issue with no single cause.