For Immediate Release
July 30, 2013
Contact: Rob Waters
rob@preventioninstitute.org; 510-444-7738
Prevention Institute Statement in Support of the SWEET Act, National Soda Tax Introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro
Today, Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and two colleagues introduced a national, penny-a-teaspoon tax on the sugar in soda and other sweetened drinks. The proceeds would be used to fund prevention and health programs to reduce “the human and economic costs” of diabetes and other chronic health problems related to overconsumption of sugary drinks.
Prevention Institute is proud to be one of the original endorsers of the SWEET Act. In support of the bill, Prevention Institute founder and Executive Director Larry Cohen made the following comments:
“Soda and sugary beverages are the new tobacco and the fight to reduce their marketing and consumption is the next great public health battle. I helped create the nation’s first multi-city no-smoking laws and advocated for years to increase the tax on tobacco. I see a sugar-sweetened beverage tax as just as valuable and just as groundbreaking.
“Sugar-sweetened beverages do extensive damage to our health, have no nutritional value, and are particularly harmful to children. Their extensive marketing, especially to children, low-income people and communities of color, is insidious and has created a nightmare of chronic disease, placing horrendous burdens and costs on our health system. Every step we can take to reverse these burdens is life-saving.”
We at Prevention Institute applaud Rep. DeLauro and her colleagues, Representatives Eleanor Homes Norton and Jim Moran, for their courage in sponsoring this legislation. We’re proud to support the national effort, just as we’ve endorsed a measure that will appear on the ballot in Berkeley, California, right in our backyard, to place a one-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages.
About Prevention Institute
Prevention Institute is an Oakland, California-based nonprofit policy, research and action center that works nationally to promote prevention, health and wellness by fostering community and policy change so all people—especially those in low-income communities—can live in healthy, safe environments.