Soda Tax: It’s The Real Thing In Philly

On Thursday, Philadelphia became the first large city in the US to impose a sin tax on soft drinks. The 1.5% per ounce tax will be imposed on drinks with added sweetener including soda, fruit drinks with less than 50% fresh fruit, sports drinks, lemonade, and flavored water.

Proceeds are earmarked for children’s education funds and park programs in the city. Then NY Mayor Mike Bloomberg tried to impose the same tax a few years ago, but failed in the face of strong opposition from both consumers and the soda industry. Now, health advocates are hopeful that Philadelphia could be a tipping point in their long-running war to make America healthier.

ABC’s Kenneth Moton joined us from Washington D.C.