Bookmark & Share

Favorites	Google
Digg	Del.icio.us
Twitter	Facebook

>> More...

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is planning to introduce legislation that would assess a surcharge to retailers that sell soda and sugar-sweetened beverages in an effort to help reduce obesity and diabetes among city residents, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The legislation would charge grocery stores and other big-box stores, but would not apply to restaurants. To impose a fee on retailers, Newsom would only need approval from the Board of Supervisors, whereas imposing a “tax on individual cans of soda and sugary juice” would require voter approval. Under Newsom’s proposal, funding garnered from the surcharge would go to support the Shape Up San Francisco exercise program and to finance media campaigns aimed at reducing soda consumption. Jim Lazarus, vice president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, has opposed the soda tax, saying that the small fee, which he believes will likely be passed to the consumer from the retailer, will do little to alter people’s habits. He also expressed concern that the legislation may serve as a gateway to taxes on other junk foods, such as candy bars, ice cream and potato chips. The San Francisco Chronicle notes that, “in recent years, city officials have banned the sale of cigarettes in pharmacies, added a fee to packs of cigarettes, required chain restaurants to display calories and fat content on menus and created a program to recognize restaurants that ban trans fats” (Knight, San Francisco Chronicle, 9/18/09).