The United States vs. Big Soda: The Taste of Change

Abstract

Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist who specializes in childhood obesity once said, "Sugar is celebratory. Sugar is something that we used to enjoy. It is evident that now, it basically has coated our tongues. It's turned into a diet staple, and it's killing us."1 In the past decade the prevalence of sugar in American processed food and diet has become a growing domestic concern. It is evident that now more than ever, sugar has found its way into almost every food and drink consumed by Americans, "The United States leads the world in consumption of sweeteners and is number 3 in the world in consuming sugary drinks."2 Sugar alters the original taste of food and drink- it disguises itself using different names embedded in products such as high fructose corn syrup, maltose, and cane crystals in addition to artificial sweeteners like Aspartame, Neotame, and Sucralose.3 The media has focused attention on this topic as the health effects of sugar consumption have become more apparent. Sugar has become the target in recent legislation measures nationwide. Taxing sugar related beverages is now legal in large United States cities such as Philadelphia (PA) and Berkeley (CA). These taxes are intended to turn Americans off from sugary beverages in order to help reduce obesity, diabetes, rotten teeth, and other health related conditions that result from an influx in sugar consumption. Further research into this topic shows that the soda tax remains a controversial topic nationwide. The paper will focus on how the creation and implementation of a soda tax differs from the west and east coast based on the desired use for the revenue.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License