Diet drinks added to Seattle mayor’s soda-tax proposal so it hits more whites

quote:

---

Mayor Ed Murray’s soda-tax legislation led to criticism it was unfair because white and affluent people tend to drink more diet drinks. The mayor’s revised proposal lowers the tax rate slightly and adds diet soda.

---

quote:

---

Under Murray’s initial plan, announced during his State of the City address in February, distributors of sugary drinks would have paid 2 cents per ounce. The revised tax would cover sodas such as Coke and Pepsi, energy and sports drinks such as Red Bull and Gatorade, fruit drinks such as Sunny D, sweetened teas such as those sold by Arizona, and bottled coffees such as those sold by Starbucks.

But unlike the initial plan, the new proposal would cover not only sugary drinks but all sweetened beverages, including diet drinks — beverages with noncaloric sweeteners.

---

quote:

---

That work involved conversations with community advocates, public-health professionals and business owners, according to the mayor. After Murray’s initial announcement, some suggested the exclusion of beverages with artificial sweeteners would be unfair because affluent white people tend to consume more diet drinks. The revised tax would be applied to all distributors, regardless of size, but would exclude 100 percent fruit juice, medicine, infant formula and milk-based products

---

quote:

---

Dr. Ben Danielson of Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic and Estela Ortega of El Centro de la Razaare are leading the Seattle Healthy Kids coalition in support of the tax. “It’s time for Seattle to confront obesity, diabetes and other health conditions among our city’s most vulnerable populations,” they said in a statement.

---