The Mendacity of Legislators.

[jonfmorse]

You've probably heard about the latest sin tax to be proposed: a tax on "sugary drinks". The idea here is, of course, to combat obesity and make our nation healthier, or at least make people pay to be fat

Comments

[paradisacorbasi]

That's useful information I hadn't been aware of.

Sincere thanks.

[ucpesmerga]

That comparison is the main reason I'm always hesitant when making drink choices for my daughter.

[lostreality]

but isn't one natural sugars vs. HFCS? I know there have been a few studies recently showing that high fructose corn syrup is more likely to cause obesity then other types of sugars, even if you have the exact same amount of sugar in each thing. Plus vitamin c isn't the only vitamin in juices, is it? and coca cola so far has pretty much no nutritional value + the caffeine thing, which I think can't just be dismissed.

But yes, I agree that juices are just as calorie inducing as soda which is why i generally stay away from both (recently we had some orange juice in the house and it felt downright decadent to be drinking all that OJ...)

[jonfmorse]

Vitamin C IS the only vitamin in apple juice. (There's a small -- SMALL -- amount of potassium as well, but we're talking single-digit RDA.)

[obfuscate]

Yeah, not all sugars are created equal, to be sure... but people should really be drinking water over either of those two choices.

[liandriel]

My understanding is that the problem with high-fructose corn syrup is not the corn syrup, but with the added fructose, which is the same natural sugar present in apple juice. In fact, apple juice has a higher concentration of fructose; HFCS combines fructose with glucose, which does not have the same deleterious effects. The Wikipedia article on HFCS has some interesting information on the subject.

In that light, if you add vitamin C to Coke, the only remaining health concern as compared with apple juice is the suspected link between phosphoric acid and a loss of bone density.

[raynotisick]

I would be more for this sort of legislation if it went towards something directly, instead of going into a general tax fund.

I'm all about making people pay more for things that end up straining the health care system though. One reason why I'm never against a cigarette tax increase.

[dantheserene]

The use of the term "sugary" seems to mean they are only going after gourmet sodas and Dublin Dr. Pepper. In which case, It is ON.

while that doesn't make any sense, the Corn Lobby is pretty damn strong and could probably protect themselves from something like this.

[jonfmorse]

The impression I get is that their primary target is energy drinks and sodas, period.