Good News for Soda Tax Advocates

A recent study on the soda tax in Berkeley, the first in the nation, brings good news for advocates of such taxes nationwide. Since January (when the tax went into effect), the city has apparently seen a one-fifth decline in sugary drink consumption.

The study, done by researchers at UC Berkeley, compared soda sales from April through July of 2014 with January through May of 2015 and found a 21% reduction in low-income neighborhoods. Since such neighborhoods are more likely to suffer from the health consequences of sweetened drinks, this is great news for tax advocates. The researchers do concede that there are flaws to such a study and it may be unwise to base too many policy decisions off their work. Soda consumption has already been on the decline, and the public battle between big soda and politicians may have had as much of an effect as the tax itself by raising awareness of soda’s health consequences.

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