Three months after a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages was trounced by Richmond voters, a new statewide poll has given hope to supporters of "soda tax" measures.
According to a new Field Poll, only 40 percent of voters support a soda tax when first asked, but support increases dramatically to 68 percent if the proceeds are earmarked for improved school nutrition and physical activity programs.
The poll could help propel efforts in California and other states to put a soda tax on statewide ballots.
The survey found support for a tax is especially strong among Latinos, Asian-Americans and African-Americans. The poll also showed that 75 percent of registered California voters, including 85 percent of
Soda displays in a market in Richmond, where voters defeated a soda tax in November 2012. (Kristopher Skinner/Staff)
Latinos, see a link between drinking sugary sodas and a person's chance of becoming overweight or obese. But fewer voters believe energy drinks or sports drinks carry the same health risks."I think this poll shows that a campaign either statewide or locally in cities has an excellent chance," said Wendel Brunner, Contra Costa County's director of public health.
But officials of the beverage industry, which fiercely fought the Richmond measure, downplayed the poll results.
"I don't think the voters are ready for a tax as presented in the poll because voters (eventually) learn that most of the added sugar in the American diet is from other sources," said Chuck Finnie, a spokesman for the American Beverage Association. "They
come to understand that singling out a particular product for special treatment is not good policy."Californians are very health conscious," he added. "But the poll is almost designed to overstate."
Field surveyed 1,184 registered California voters by telephone Oct. 17-24. The margin of error for the poll, which was conducted in six languages, was plus or minus 3 percentage points. It was the third in a series of annual statewide surveys on childhood obesity conducted on behalf of the California Endowment, a health foundation.
Richmond's Measure N was the first in the country to propose a local merchant tax on sales of beverages containing added sugar, a category comprising more than 700 products and brands. The measure would have generated $2 million to $4 million in annual revenue initially.
Proponents insisted the revenue generated from the tax would go to recreation and childhood obesity programs. But Proposition 13, passed in 1978, requires that any local tax for a specific expenditure receive two-thirds of the vote. So soda tax proponents also put Measure O on the ballot to direct the revenue from Measure N towards youth health and recreation programs.
Measure O passed with 63 percent approval,
but it was a moot point because 67 percent of Richmond voters said no to Measure N.A similar measure was also defeated by a similar margin in El Monte in Southern California.
The beverage industry funneled more than $2.5 million into Richmond to fight the measure, appealing to minority groups and painting opponents as white elitists seeking to impose new taxes on the working poor and minority businesses. Tax opponents, bolstered by an expensive and sophisticated campaign run by a San Francisco consulting firm, consistently highlighted the idea that the tax was overly broad and would hit products ranging from nutritional shakes for seniors to baby formulas.
"There wasn't a billboard available in town that hadn't been bought," Brunner said.
But soda tax advocates clearly aren't giving up.
Former Richmond Councilman Jeff Ritterman, a primary proponent of Measure N, said that he is working with colleagues in Sacramento to draft a statewide soda tax initiative that would directly tie tax revenues to specific health programs to combat obesity, with only a voter majority approval required to pass. In addition, soda tax advocates are trying to get similar measures on the ballot in Hawaii, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island.
Despite scientific research showing a link between obesity and other non-soda sugar-sweetened beverages, such as energy drinks and sports drinks, the Field Poll indicated that fewer voters see this linkage. Only 42 percent think regularly drinking energy drinks like Red Bull, Rockstar or Monster definitely increases a person's chances of being overweight or obese. And just 26 percent said this about sports drinks like Gatorade or Powerade.
UC San Francisco obesity researcher Nancy Adler explained the discrepancy by suggesting that people may see sodas as only empty calories but perceive positive qualities from energy drinks or sports drinks. Also, she said, there is a perception that someone may drink those all day long but may have only one or two energy or sports drinks per day and therefore perceive less of a health risk for those drinks.
Adler said there are no positive health benefits for any sugary beverage. "There's only possible health risks and definite health risks," she said.
Aside from a soda tax, the increased perception of soda's link to obesity among minority groups, especially Latinos, suggests education campaigns sponsored by California's Department of Public Health are working, according to Marjorie Freedman, an associate professor of nutrition at San Jose State. "That actually means the message is getting across."
Staff writer Robert Rogers contributed to this report.
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