- Social:
California/Nevada Soft Drink Association
Policy Director for the California/Nevada Soft Drink Association; Spokeswoman for CalBev, the California arm of the American Beverage Association
PROFILE
Karen Hanretty
Guest
FROM Karen Hanretty
To the Point
Big Soda Pours in Big Money to Stop Tax on Sugary Drinks Sugar-sweetened beverages are the single biggest source of calories for American teenagers, who are increasingly obese. And, for children, just one or two sodas a day raise the chance of contracting diabetes by 26%. So, after failing in 30 other states, public health advocates are asking voters in San Francisco and Berkeley, California to approve taxes on sugary soft drinks in next month’s elections.
Which Way, L.A.?
The Soda Wars Have Come to California Liberal New Yorkers called former Mayor Michael Bloomberg a government nanny when he tried to restrict so-called Big Gulps of high-sugar sodas. But Californians even support a tax on sugary soft drinks. That's according to research by the Field Poll , commissioned by the California Endowment, this state's largest health foundation. This, as the federal Centers for Disease Control report that the obesity rate among children between the ages of two and five has dropped by 43% in the past 10 years, the first evidence of decline in the epidemic of childhood obesity.
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