The Philadelphia City Council today is expected to be the first major city in America to adopt a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. The tax of 1.5 cents per ounce on diet and regular soda, iced tea, energy drinks, juice drinks containing less than 50 percent juice and other sugary beverages is expected to add about $1 to the cost of a 2-liter bottle of soda.
- Quotes: “Philadelphia, because of its size and its prominence nationally and internationally, is helping set a trend that will lead to many other cities adopting such taxes,” says Kelly Brownell, dean of Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and an expert on obesity and health policy.“The impact on public health could be quite positive. History will look back on this as a significant event in addressing the nation’s massive problems with obesity and diabetes.”
- Bio:Kelly Brownell is dean of Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and a Duke professor of public policy, psychology and neuroscience, and psychiatry and behavioral sciences. He can discuss food labeling and taxing, health behavior and related food policy topics. https://sanford.duke.edu/people/faculty/brownell-kelly-d
- Related podcast featuring Brownell (on parallels between sugar and tobacco industries): https://soundcloud.com/user-352709534/episode-4-sugar-fix
- For additional comment, contact Brownell at: kelly.brownell@duke.edu