Tag: tax
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Soft Drink Tax Could Generate $10 Billion Annually, Says CSPI
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has issued a paper claiming that a state tax on sugar-sweetened beverages “would yield billions of dollars in new revenue and counter the alarming risks of obesity, poor nutrition, and displacement of more healthful foods and beverages.” Echoing similar proposals published in the New England Journal of…
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Slate Writers Challenge Effectiveness of Proposed “Fat Tax”
“It may take more than an analogy with tobacco to convince voters,” argues Daniel Engber in the first of two recent Slate articles questioning the effectiveness of a proposed federal tax on sugar-sweetened beverages and other “hyperpalatable” food products. Titled “Let Them Drink Water: What a Fat Tax Really Means for America,” the article asserts…
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California Senator, Consumer Groups Allege Link Between Soft Drink Consumption and Obesity
The chair of the California Senate’s Select Committee on Obesity and Diabetes has reportedly announced a November 2009 hearing to discuss the purported link between sweetened beverage consumption and obesity. An author of the state’s menu labeling laws, California Senator Alex Padilla (D-San Fernando Valley) issued the September 17, 2009, press release in response to…
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Report Urges Lawmakers to Look at Anti-Tobacco Campaigns in the Fight Against Obesity
The Urban Institute and the University of Virginia have issued a report claiming that lawmakers should study anti-tobacco campaigns as they consider taxing fattening foods and sugary drinks to curb the nation’s obesity problem. Titled “Reducing Obesity: Policy Strategies from the Tobacco Wars,” the report asserts that increased education about smoking and taxing tobacco products…
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CDC’s “Weight of the Nation” Conference Addresses Obesity Epidemic
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hosted a “Weight of the Nation” conference July 27-29, 2009, in Washington, D.C., to explore ways of tackling the nation’s escalating rates of obesity. Treating obesity-related conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis reportedly costs some $147 billion annually. Speakers at the inaugural event included CDC…
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CSPI Calls on Congress to Impose Soft Drink Tax as Part of Health Care Reform
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has written to Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) requesting that the federal government “levy a tax on non-diet soft drinks to recoup some of the costs incurred by the government from the consumption of these drinks, as well as to reduce consumption.” Others signing…
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British Court of Appeal Rules on Snack Food Tax Status
The British Court of Appeal has determined that “Regular Pringles,” a snack food made by Procter and Gamble, are subject to the value-added tax under a provision that applies to “potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs and similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch.” Revenue & Customs v. Procter…
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CSPI Urges Congress to Pass Legislation Aimed At Reducing Sodium Levels in Food
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has launched a campaign to halve the amount of sodium in prepackaged foods and restaurant meals within 10 years. CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson this week presented the group’s case to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, claiming that “Because it raises blood pressure and increases the…