Menu

In the News

It’s a Soda Tax, Not a Grocery Tax, and It Works

In November, residents in San Francisco, Oakland and Albany will vote on a simple 1-cent-per-ounce tax on distributors of sugary drinks. It will raise revenue for health and prevent diabetes. This tax will fall mostly on big soda companies and their bottlers, and they are spending millions to mislead and misrepresent what is on the ballot in order to protect their profits. PHI's Lynn Silver studied the 2014 tax on sugary drinks in Berkeley, and explains the results: average grocery bills did not go up and sales of unhealthy, sugar-packed drinks dropped significantly. This commentary published in the East Bay Times makes the strong case for passing the tax in order to increase the health and well-being of all residents. The study was also cited in recent KQED story discussing the inflow of campaign donations for the soda tax measure.

PHI’s Lynn Silver studied the 2014 tax on sugary drinks in Berkeley, and explains the results: average grocery bills did not go up and sales of unhealthy, sugar-packed drinks dropped significantly. This commentary published in the East Bay Times makes the strong case for passing the tax in order to increase the health and well-being of all residents.


This fall, residents in San Francisco, Oakland and Albany will vote on a simple 1-cent-per-ounce tax on distributors of sugary drinks. It will raise revenue for health and prevent diabetes. This tax will fall mostly on big soda companies and their bottlers.

Yet our mailboxes are deluged with junk mail pictures of neighborhood grocers denouncing a “grocery tax.” Online, allegations swirl. Where do these scare tactics come from and whose best interests do they have at heart?

The source is clear. The American Beverage Association, a cabal representing big soda and beverage companies, is spending millions to mislead us and misrepresent what is on the ballot in order to protect their profits.

For facts on the soda tax, we need only look to our neighbors in Berkeley, which passed the nation’s first large tax on sugary drinks in 2014. At the Public Health Institute in Oakland we have been working with University of North Carolina to evaluate that law. A key question was: How does the tax affect grocery bills?

We looked at data from the first 6 months of the tax, covering more than 7 million customer checkouts from two chains of large groceries. The results were clear: Average grocery bills did not go up. In fact, looking at stores in Berkeley and Bay Area comparison communities without the tax, average grocery bills went down a tiny bit in both.

Read the full article.


Lynn Silver’s study was also cited in a recent KQED story.

Originally published by East Bay Times


More Updates

Work With Us

You change the world. We do the rest. Explore fiscal sponsorship at PHI.

Bring Your Work to PHI

Support Us

Together, we can accelerate our response to public health’s most critical issues.

Donate

Find Employment

Begin your career at the Public Health Institute.

See Jobs

Mural and kids' paintings hanging on a fence at a playground

Close

New Public Health Primer: Engaging Community Development for Health Equity

How can the public health and community development sectors to work together to advance health and racial equity? A new primer from PHI’s Build Healthy Places Network and partners provides a roadmap for forging upstream partnerships, with recommendations, strategies and lessons-learned from national, state and local leaders.

Explore the primer

Continue to PHI.org