In California, Big Soda Pushes Lawmakers into Submission

The fight against big soda is slowly but surely making its way from U.S. cities to the states themselves. In Connecticut, the governor’s office is pushing to enact the first state-wide soda tax in the face of massive industry opposition and well-funded campaigns against them. Despite these promising signs for advocates of the tax, it’s going to be an uphill climb against the power of the beverage industry. Big corporations spend millions stifling good faith efforts to spread awareness on the dangers of too much sugar and limit the amount we consume.

Nowhere in the country is the fight more pronounced than in California. In the past two years alone, the beverage industry has spent 11.8 million dollars combatting the efforts to tax, limit, and properly label sugary drinks.¹ The thing is, they’ve had a lot of success: last year, the state legislature passed a bill banning local sugar taxes until the year 2031. That kind of preventative legislation is a dream come true for the lobby, as each year more and more cities crack down on widespread obesity with their own sugar taxes.²

California legislature bows to beverage lobby interests

A year later, and the sugar lobby still has California state legislators in its grip. In early April, Assemblyman David Chiu pulled his legislation to ban oversized fountain sodas from being sold in restaurants and grocery stores. “Make no mistake,” said Chiu, “the disease and suffering created by sugar-sweetened beverages is one of the most pressing public health issues of our time and must be addressed.” Nonetheless, Chiu and other lawmakers backed down in the face of industry pressure, and threw out the bill in the Assembly Health Committee, before it could be brought to a vote in the larger body.

“Bold bills taking on big soda are never easy wins,” said Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, in response to the decision.

Public health versus a powerful industry

The tentative good news is that a statewide sugar tax, one that would fly in the face of last year’s preventative legislation, did make it past the health committee to be voted on. That was a narrow victory, however, and the likelihood of its being passed is relatively low. Representatives of industry groups like the American Beverage Association lashed out at the tax for targeting the wrong industry, arguing without evidence that “more starch and fat in the American diet” are the root cause of obesity.³

More importantly, however, members of the state legislature on both sides of the aisle have been towing the industry line. “You can’t just tax everything,” said Assemblyman Heath Flora, who argued that lack of exercise could also be the problem. In all of this, it seems that the lobby has gone a long way in deflecting blame from the industry and preserving sugar’s place at the top of the American food pyramid. One can only hope that, as the national obesity crisis becomes more severe, our representatives at both the state and federal level will begin taking action to address the dangers of sugar.

Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD

This article has been medically reviewed by Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD.

Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD is an aesthetic medicine specialist whose work focuses on patients who are treated for obesity, metabolic syndrome, and other weight-related issues through nutritional analysis, keto diet programs, and supporting medications.

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Ryan Mernin

Ryan is a freelance writer and editor based in Philadelphia. He has edited books of Chinese philosophy, interviewed bands as a music journalist, and labored over satirical treatises in the candlelit hours of the early morning. He has also tended bar.

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