Congress may be considering taxing soda pop to help pay for health care, and coalition members from Americans Against Food Taxes are already trying to stop it.
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The Facts:
A Harvard School of Public Health review of 40 years of scientific nutritional studies implicates soft drinks as a major factor in the nation's obesity epidemic.
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Regular soft drinks today are sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup almost entirely, the introduction of which in the 1970s has been tied to the explosion of overweight people in America in at least one study, which appeared in the April 2004 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. A characteristic of fructose is that it does not affect appetite. One has no sense of being satiated in consuming fructose-sweetened drinks, encouraging over-consumption.
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Harvard also states that Obesity is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality, causing some 2.6 million deaths worldwide each year. In the U.S., survey data on obesity on a national and state level is obtained using information gathered by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which uses telephone interviews; national data is also collected using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which does in-person interviews and follow-up height and weight measurements on people who agree to a clinical exam. Lead author Majid Ezzati , Associate Professor of International Health at HSPH, and his colleagues analyzed and compared the data from the two surveys in order to quantify the level of bias when people self-report their height and weight, especially in a telephone interview. The prevalence of obesity in the U.S. states has been greatly underestimated. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) analyzed data from health surveys, which are used to estimate obesity levels in states. Because people tend to provide incorrect information about their weight and height, especially in telephone surveys, the researchers concluded that estimates of obesity in individual states have been too low, by more than 50%. Their study, which corrects for misreporting in those surveys, appears in the May 2006 issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
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While fat in American diets has decreased in recent years owing to the public’s response to this nationwide epidemic, obesity is still a growing concern. While removing fat from their diets, people will often increase their intake of sugar, high density carbohydrates, and starches. Low protein and fat meals often leave people feeling hungry, leading them to fill their stomachs as soon as possible.
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Cardiovascular disease has been linked to obesity. The treatment of heart disease puts a burden on our health care system, which adds to higher health care costs. The consumer pays the price for the obesity of others, in higher health care costs and higher health insurance premiums.
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Americans Against Food Taxes say:
"Discriminatory and punitive taxes on soda and juice drinks do not teach our children to have a healthy lifestyle and have no meaningful impact on child obesity or public health. They just further burden working families already struggling in this trying economy."
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We say BULL, BULL, BULL! There are obese children and adults, and obesity can lead to heart disease and other illnesses. The consumer pays the price (for their own obesity or the obesity of others) in higher health care costs and higher premiums.
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A lot of us are getting sick and tired of business and association lobbyists and special interests trying to derail or influence health care reform legislation. We are a government of the people, by the people, and not a government of the corporations, associations, and big business.
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We were particularly dismayed to see ads on television today from "Americans Against Food Taxes" trying to influence health care legislation.
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If you are as upset as we are, then we urge you to refuse to do business with Coalition members. If the coalition member is an association, refuse to do business with the association's members. When Coalition members stop trying to influence health care legislation, then and only then should you consider doing business with them again.
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Here's a short list of COALITION members:
Arkansas Beverage AssociationArkansas Grocers and Retail Merchants AssociationBernick’s Beverages and VendingBeverage Association of MississippiBeverage Association of TennesseeBeverage Association of VermontBeverage Truck & Trailer, LLC
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Clark Beverage GroupCoca-Cola Bottling Co. ConsolidatedCoca-Cola Bottling Co. High CountryCoca-Cola Bottling Co. United, Inc.Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Fort Wayne, INCoca-Cola Bottling Co. of Minden, Inc.Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Winona, MNCoca-Cola Bottling Works, Inc.Coca-Cola Company, TheCoca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.
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Kwik Trip, Inc.L & E Bottling CompanyLakeside Pepsi-ColaLancer CorporationLinPepCo PartnershipLouisiana Beverage AssociationLouisiana Retailers Association
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Ohio Chamber of CommerceOhio Council of Retail MerchantsOhio Grocers AssociationOhio Restaurant AssociationOhio Soft Drink AssociationOregon Beverage Recycling CooperativeOregon Soft Drink AssociationOriginal Roadhouse GrillPace Global Energy ServicesPennsylvania Beverage Association
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For the complete list of members:
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