New York City is moving ahead in their war on junk food, with a new proposal to add a significant tax to the sales of carbonated pop:
[Mayor Michael Bloomberg] described the soda tax — equivalent to an extra eight pence on a can — as “a fix that just makes sense”, saving lives and cutting rising health care costs.
“An extra 12 cents on a can of soda would raise nearly $1 billion (£663 million), allowing us to keep community health services open and teachers in the classroom,” he said on his weekly radio programme on Sunday.
“And, at the same time, it would help us fight a major problem plaguing our children: obesity.”
David Paterson, the mayor of New York state, has already proposed a soda tax but it was dropped last year following a public outcry.
H/T to Chris Greaves for the link, who said “Let’s see now, prohibition didn’t work, so let’s try something different!”
Of course, the proposed tax would be very popular in some areas: all the retailers outside NYC who would be able to reap significant additional sales to New Yorkers who didn’t want to pay the sin tax.
