Soda tax controversy goes international
Nutrition and public policy expert Marion Nestle answers readers' questions in this column written exclusively for The Chronicle.
Last month, the Mexican government proposed an additional soda tax of one peso (about 8 cents) per liter.
The idea is to raise $1.5 million per year while discouraging soda consumption, thereby helping to reduce the country's high prevalence of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
[...] the poorer segments of the population continue to experience high levels of stunting, iron-deficiency anemia and vitamin A deficiency.
Some people think cane sugar tastes better than high fructose corn syrup, although controlled taste tests don't always back this up.
An ad from the sugarcane industry also threatened job losses - "The tax will generate unemployment and discourage productivity and investment" - and noted that workers and the poor will bear most of its burden.
The big questionsAs with any such initiative, the big questions are whether the tax is likely to reduce soda consumption, obesity and diabetes, and whether the revenue will be used for widely beneficial public health purposes.
[...] a coalition of consumer and health groups, in part funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, has been putting posters in subway stations that illustrate the amounts of sugar in soft drinks.
Like their U.S. colleagues, Mexican public health authorities are searching for effective ways to reverse obesity trends.