Soda Tax Still Possible, Insists State Health Commissioner

Man drinking fat, from NYC Health Department anti-soda PSA.

With state lawmakers unwilling to pass a penny-per-ounce tax on non-diet sodas and other sugary drinks, most people have given up hope that the so-called fat tax will roll into this year's budget. But State Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines—whom you may recall from such classic videos as Soda Vs Milk—is holding on to the dream! In a profile in today's Times, Daines goes into "polemical overdrive," in hopes that the tax "might be revived during 11th-hour budget negotiations, when lawmakers are desperate." In Daines's eyes, the issue is just as much about economic disparity as it is about obesity:

I raised my kids on Park Avenue,” he said. “You can walk at least from 60th Street to 96th Street on Park Avenue. You won’t see a single soda billboard, you won’t see a single fast-food outlet, and I don’t think you could buy a soda. Basically, a child raised in that corridor has a soda-free day after school.”
But walk 30 blocks north to Harlem, he said, and the picture is different. “This is cheap, it’s heavily advertised, it tastes really good,” he said. “And then we plunge kids into that environment, and we say, if you have a problem, you lack self-control.”

Last month the Daily News detailed how State Senator Jeffrey Klein, who was "instrumental in getting the soda tax off the table," has raked in "at least $36,000 in campaign contributions from drink companies and special interest groups tied to the beverage industry since the tax was proposed in December 2008." Dr. Daines also blames the soft-drink lobby for mounting an effective campaign against the tax. "It scares the politicians away," he observed.

And from the good doctor's point of view, the consumer-choice argument against the Nanny State is simply "AstroTurf false-flag operations" financed by the beverage industry. "We know this elaborately with tobacco," Daines added. While lawmakers may have caved to Big Beverage, they are considering $1-per-pack increase in the state's cigarette tax!

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By John Del Signore in Food on April 5, 2010 5:11 PM

Comments [rss]

Greenpoint60

Two Points that need to be mentioned:

1-A national health care system will not reverse the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle. Men in the US, the UK and Canada will all live on an average to 66 if they are 60 lbs overweight and they smoke. If they were normal weight and did not smoke they would live on an average to 87.

http://www.lifeexpectancy.com

2-Being rich and having the best medical treatments available will not reverse the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle. Bill Clinton is the poster boy for this unhealthy lifestyle and its consequences.

Gothampc

"I raised my kids on Park Avenue,” he said. “You can walk at least from 60th Street to 96th Street on Park Avenue."

Well La Di Dah! Not everyone can afford Park Avenue. How about slumming with the unwashed masses for awhile and see how they live.

When I was in college and money was tight, I used to drink soda because it tricked my body into thinking it was full. Of course that's not the smartest thing to do but soda was cheap.

This is just another way to tax people because Albany is too stupid to really look at the budget and make necessary cuts.

Greenpoint60

Those snobs have the fucking groceries delivered

Ishtar

Fresh Direct is a god send! Now we unwashed masses can afford to have our groceries delivered.

Greenpoint60

Fresh Direct, no way. We get some excercise and lug the groceries home.

Greenpoint60

and other sugary drinks

Read your labels gang, does that include orange juice?

orange juice has sugar 1 Cup 22 grams Vs 27 grams in a cup of Coca-Cola

The politicians are using this as an excuse to tax us

Phil

You really need to look into nutrition. They don't add sugar to natural OJ. In other words oranges already have that much natural sugar in them. Read the label on one of the "not from concentrate" cartons. It's pure OJ. There's a big difference between drinking 27 grams of corn syrup that's in a 12 oz can of soda and 22 grams of natural sugar in an 8 oz glass of OJ. And how much OJ vs soda is being drunk anyway? You're just rationalizing.

Greenpoint60

If a person drinks just one glass of soda or OJ per day in excess of their daily calorie requirement, they will gain about 10 Lbs in a year

The body does not differentiate between the sugar in soda or OJ, they can both make you overweight

Ishtar

Your body does differentiate between the two, but what's relevent is your first sentence. Anything beyond your daily caloric needs will make you gain weight.

Greenpoint60

Ishtar there are overweight vegetarians with poor nutrition.

Ishtar

Like my fat ass co-worker. Ick.

I also acknowledge that some people are not vegetarians for health reasons. They opt for that lifestyle because they are opposed to eating animals.

Greenpoint60

Meat is not necessary for proper nutrition. Soya and non-fat dairy products are better in my opinion.

BTW, I still eat ham and Polish sausage once in a blue moon.

Greenpoint60

Not so the sugar in Soda & OJ will both make you overweight if you drink them in excess. There are 4 calories per gram of sugar in OJ & soda

With that said, I always drink fruit juice never soda.

Phil

Really? Look into nutrition. . .

Phil

I don't drink soda. I stopped about 3 years ago. I used to drink at least one at lunch. I always had stomach indigestion. That went away after a few months. Connection? I don't know. But this much I'll say about a soda tax. Don't. Instead the U.S. should stop giving Big Agra corn subsidies. That will raise the price and our tax dollar could be used for something else. A tax to combat a subsidy makes no sense to me.