I happen to overhear recently that SF is proposing a tax on businesses that carry and sell sodas. More precisely, Mayor Newsom has proposed the tax and hoping the Board of Sups. will run with it.
On the surface, I don’t really agree with it but after further thought, I’m not so sure. Soda (made w/corn syrup, the high fructose kind) is one of the top contributors to obesity in this country. I challenge you to find a person severely obese who doesn’t drink sugared sodas. [1]I know I’ve never found one High Fructose Corn Syrup or HFCS as a simple sugar that is absorbed very easily by the body. What many people don’t know is that it actually reduces the insulin receptors response. Translated, it means a person is more prone to developing diabetes. HFCS has also been shown to interfere with the hearts ability to process vital minerals. I could go on and on but you get the point. [2]I actually stopped drinking sugared sodas during my EMT training. We got the full laundry list of damages. The irony is HFCS is much more expensive to make however, because of government contracts and subsidies on corn in the US it becomes more profitable than regular cane sugar.
Soda is also NOT a necessity. It is a luxury item. I have no problem with SF taxing luxury items to help offset the growing medical burdens of society. I can’t really see equating corn syrup to carcinogens in cigarettes however, the mounting evidence against HFCS doesn’t lie. I guess here I’d fall back on the old adage, "everything in moderation." The problem is we have become a society of excess. We do almost nothing in moderation.
I don’t really know if Newsom’s idea will succeed or not. I applaud him for attempting to do something rather than nothing. However, his measure is a tiny band-aid on a sore the size of Texas. Until we educate our children on the value of good nutrition, [3]when was the last time you saw a school curriculum that included more than a passing stab at nutrition? and the dangers of sugared sodas, the problem will continue to grow. (pun intended)
I wonder how New York’s ban on trans fats is going.
Schools don’t cover nutrition anymore because it isn’t on the “No Child” crappy tests. I find sugar pops to sweet, so I waste my money on diet coke.
I’ve also been trying to moderate my sugared beverage consumption – big difference between having 8 cans a week and 1 can a week. Yes, I don’t think that HFCS is great (and it’s in almost everything), but I think the bigger problem is the serving sizes nowadays. C’mon people – super big gulps at 7-Eleven where you could have a pool party for 4 in the cup?
And actually, I thought the sugar industry was regulated more than the corn industry, so therefore sugar was more expensive than HFCS?
This country has an unhealthy obsession with soda. I know, because I was a soda addict as a child up until about two years ago. I wasn’t ever a fan of the regular kind but I loved my Diet RC. I have since stopped drinking soda altogether and immediately noticed a huge difference in my weight when I stopped having it. Even thought the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas have no caloric value there is research now showing that they still illicit an insulin response which leads to obesity.
I think this is a brilliant idea. Like tobacco I think HFCS is a danger to the health and welfare of general populous, not only that but it tastes like shit.
After reading this, I immediately thought of the John Waters movie Pecker. In it, Pecker’s little sister (Little Chrissy) is addicted to sugar. At the end of the movie, she switches her addiction to veggies.
I dunno why my brain works the way it does. 🙂
We have a 2% Beverage Tax here, on top of an already 9% Sales Tax. I try my hardest not to buy the 20oz bottles of soda because they’re such a rip off.
Earlier this year a 20oz bottle of Coke was a base price of $1.09, then it went to $1.19, the other day at target it was priced at $1.49, with tax that comes to almost $1.70!
I say tax it because it makes me want to drink it even less.
p.s. They’re thinking of adding a $0.05 “tax” on bottled water next year too.
Interesting piece. Here in Europe, our minerals as us Irish call them, doesn’t contain HFCS, it’s only in the states that I’ve found this ingredient.
Hmmm.. I wonder if this tax will be approved. I’ve never heard that HFCS blocks vital minerals.. what study is that from? Personally I just try to limit my sugar intake instead of worrying about what type of sugar I’m consuming.