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San Francisco Bay
Area neighbor Albany, California passed a similar measure,
preliminary figures showed and measures in Oakland, California
and Boulder, Colorado, were on track to pass as well, with votes
still being counted early on Wednesday.
The levies on sugar-sweetened beverages arrive a month after the
World Health Organization recommended that governments introduce
these types of taxes in a bid to battle obesity, diabetes and
other diet-related diseases.
Opponents of such taxes say they hit lower income populations
hardest, and that it is unfair to single out soda in the battle
to fight obesity and diabetes.
Coca-Cola Co, PepsiCo Inc and other companies in the roughly
$100 billion U.S. soft drink industry are fighting the taxes at
a time when soda consumption is falling.
The San Francisco measure passed 62 percent to 38 percent and
the Albany measure passed 71 percent to 29 percent. With 85
percent of precincts reporting, the Oakland measure had 62
percent support to 38 percent opposed, and in Boulder the soda
tax was passing 54 percent to 46 percent, with the percent of
votes counted unclear.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Peter Henderson and
Toby Chopra)
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