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Seattle Latest City to Slam Soda Makers with Hefty $1.75 Per Ounce Sugar Tax
The new Seattle legislation will lift the price of a 12-ounce can of sweetened soda by about $0.21
and add around $1.18 to the cost of a 2-liter bottle, based on a rate of 1.75 cents per ounce, which means the tax would be about $1.18 for a 2-liter bottle of soda.
The measure, to be signed by Mayor Ed Murray on Tuesday, was passed by a 7-1 vote despite aggressive lobbying from the American Beverage Association, which claimed the new tax would hurt poor
and working-class families, along with small businesses.
On Monday, the City Council of Seattle became the latest to burden soft drink makers with
a new tax specifically related to sodas and other sugary beverages sold to consumers.
The legislation’s enactment will add Washington’s largest city to a growing list of localities across the country
seeking to curb consumption of high-calorie, sugar-filled beverages by passing higher costs on to consumers.
Proponents of the tax said it would help the city provide better access to nutritious foods
in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, reports the Seattle Times.
Philadelphia, San Francisco (and some of its Bay Area neighbors), Boulder, Colo.,
and the greater Chicago area have all passed similar measures over the past few years.