In a move garnering international attention, the Danish government has reportedly approved a new excise tax on butter, cream, cheese, and other foods that contain more than 2.3 percent saturated fat per total weight. According to the Copenhagen Post, the levy took effect October 1, 2011, and “amounts to a 16 kroner duty per solid kilo of saturated fat,” raising the price of a standard butter package to 18 kroner from 15.50 kroner and 500 grams of 45 percent fat cheese to 36 kroner from 34.50 kroner. This so-called fat tax has already drawn criticism from some retailers and industry groups such as the Danish Agriculture and Food Council, which has estimated the annual cost per family at 1,000 kroner. But the measure has also piqued curiosity abroad, where health advocates are purportedly eager to see whether consumers will alter their diets or pay the higher prices. “It’s the first ever…
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Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has released a new study claiming that “a penny per ounce” tax on sugar sweetened beverages “has the potential to reduce consumption and generate significant revenue.” Tatiana Andreyeva, et al., “Estimating the potential of taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages to reduce consumption and generate revenue,” Preventive Medicine, April 2011. To estimate revenues from an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, the study’s authors evidently constructed “a model projecting beverage consumption and tax revenues based on best available data on regional beverage consumption, historic trends and recent estimates of the price elasticity on sugar-sweetened beverage demand.” Using this model, the authors described the public health impact of beverage taxes as “substantial,” estimating that a penny-per-ounce tax would reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption by 24 percent and lower “the daily per capita caloric intake from sugar-sweetened beverages from the current 190-200 cal to 145-150 cal, if there…
A proposed California bill (A.B. 669) that would have levied a state tax on sweetened beverages has reportedly died in a legislative committee. Sponsored by Assembly Member Bill Monning (D-Carmel), the proposed tax of 1 cent per fluid ounce on soft drinks, energy drinks, sweet teas, and other sugary beverages would have raised an estimated $1.7 billion for health-related programs for children. Monning has vowed to continue supporting the tax, asserting that “the long-term health of California’s children is at risk and we must work together to avoid a future influx of chronically ill adults into our already overstressed health care system.” See The (San Jose) Mercury News, April 26, 2011.
Senators Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have issued a report, “Summertime Blues,” in which they provide information about “100 stimulus projects that give taxpayers the blues.” Among the projects is a $521,000 grant to the University of Illinois to study whether taxes on soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages can affect the incidence of obesity. According to the senators, “While it is hard to disagree that soda and other sugary drinks are contributing factors to the national obesity epidemic, it is easy to disagree whether federal dollars should be used to study the relationship between taxes and obesity.” In a related development, the CEO of a nonprofit foundation writing in The Hill’s “Pundits Blog,” called the District of Columbia’s decision to take a “soda tax” off the table “an unfortunate mistake.” Kathy Kemper opines that the proposal “would take our capital city far in reducing sugar consumption among…
In response to an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) request, the Business Roundtable and The Business Council have prepared a report with a list of laws and regulations that the nation’s business leaders reportedly believe “have a dampening effect on economic growth and job creation.” Among the business groups’ concerns are proposals that would affect how the food and beverage sectors conduct business. Titled “Policy Burdens Inhibiting Economic Growth,” the report cited Food and Drug Administration food labeling policies, proposals to increase beverage taxes, pending changes to food safety laws, proposed nutrition standards, and youth marketing initiatives as areas of particular concern. OMB Watch, an organization dedicated to “equitable regulatory and budgetary processes,” questioned the timing of the White House invitation, claiming that recent economic and environmental catastrophes were due to lax regulation and not “because government has been too zealous.” Acknowledging that OMB may have initiated the dialogue as…
AlterNet staff writer and editor Daniela Perdomo takes a look in this article at the money that the beverage industry is purportedly spending to oppose federal and state efforts to impose a tax on soft drinks. According to the article, the American Beverage Association increased its lobbying nearly 4,000 percent over the last quarter of 2009, from $140,000 to $5.4 million. The article cites statistics indicating that children and teens today consume 10 to 15 percent of their daily caloric intake in the form of soft drinks, and weigh more, at a shorter average height, than their counterparts when soft drinks were first introduced in the late 1880s. While some public health advocates argue that people should not consume more than one sweetened beverage each week, those blaming American obesity on lack of exercise counter that “soft drinks are an enjoyable, safe product that people have been enjoying for generations.”…
According to news sources, both Philadelphia and the District of Columbia have failed to adopt taxes on sweetened beverages. Philadelphia’s mayor apparently never had a council majority to support his proposed soda tax and has now indicated that he will be forced to make cuts to police and fire department budgets and limit branch libraries to four-day weeks. A council member known as a leading administration critic reportedly characterized the mayor’s threat as “retribution.” In a related development, the D.C. Council has informally disapproved a proposal that would have taxed sweetened beverages sold in the district at one penny per ounce. The council member who proposed the tax wanted to use the revenue to fund a healthy school initiative that council has approved because the city’s financial officer has apparently indicated that funds are not available to implement it. The initiative reportedly requires schools to serve healthier food to address the…
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently profiled Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, and his decades-long advocacy of soft drink taxes, an idea that once attracted derision but today “doesn’t seem so radical.” The Chronicle notes “growing evidence of a link between price and consumption,” citing recent reports that appear to lend credence to Brownell’s crusade. Despite opposition from free market economists, the beverage industry and groups like the Center for Consumer Freedom, the proposal has purportedly gained traction in legislative circles, rippling outwards from cities and states to the upper echelons of federal government. Counted among these supporters is Thomas Frieden, who once co-authored a paper with Brownell and now directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moreover, according to The Chronicle, “[t]he professor is aware that the renewed interest in his idea is, at least in part, prompted by the budget…
The Romanian government has reportedly proposed a tax on fast foods high in fat, sugar and salt. Backed by the European Public Health Alliance, the health ministry has sought to create the world’s most comprehensive tax scheme that would include, not just sugary foods and beverages, but savory fare as well. Proponents have claimed that the measure would help combat rising obesity rates in the Balkan nation while simultaneously raising £860 million for government coffers. But legislators have apparently struggled to define fast food as they consider more than 40,000 products eligible for the levy. They have already exempted popular street fare like pizza and kebabs on the ground that these items are often made from fresh ingredients, drawing further criticism from detractors who have questioned the proposal’s uneven application. In addition, the World Health Organization has noted that the plan penalizes vulnerable populations in a country where the average…
Facing budget shortfalls in the upcoming fiscal year, several state and city legislatures are reportedly considering a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. Kansas Senator John Vratil (R-Leawood) this week proposed a bill (S.B. 567) that would tax such products, including energy and sports drinks, at the rate of one penny per teaspoon of sugar. According to its proponents, the measure would add a dime to the cost of a typical 12-ounce soft drink and raise approximately $90 million per year. “The thinking is No. 1, we need money,” Vratil was quoted as saying. “But perhaps just as importantly, obesity is a real, growing problem.” See The Kansas City Star, March 9, 2010. In addition, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has introduced a FY 2010-11 budget that includes a 2-cent-per-ounce tax on the distribution of sugary drinks. Media sources have apparently likened the measure to current excise taxes or the 10 percent “liquor-by-the-drink” tax.…
