Three US cities pass ‘soda tax’

Three California cities voted for a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages and another in Colorado was likely to follow suit, unofficial election results show.

Reuters reported that the votes in San Francisco, Albany and Oakland in California and in Boulder, Colorado, came a month after the World Health Organization recommended governments impose such taxes to battle obesity, diabetes and other diet-related diseases.

Coca-Cola Co, PepsiCo Inc. and other companies in the roughly $100 billion US soft drink industry are fighting the taxes at a time when soda consumption is falling, it reported.

The Wall Street Journal reported voters in San Francisco, Oakland and Albany approved yesterday a penny-per-ounce levy on nonalcoholic drinks with caloric sweeteners, affecting everything from cola to sports drinks and ice tea to energy drinks.

In Boulder residents approved a ballot measure calling for a tax of two cents per ounce (30ml).

Sign the New Zealand petition to introduce a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages.