"Trick Or Treat? Critics Blast Big Soda's Efforts To Fend Off Taxes"

"If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you may have seen ads urging you to vote 'no' on a grocery tax. 'Don't Tax Our Groceries' is the tagline of the $9.5 million campaign, which is funded by the American Beverage Association.

In one ad, the camera pans to images of tomatoes and beans, as a local business owner says, 'The grocery tax is going to hurt my customers.'

But here's the thing. There's no grocery tax on the ballot.

'That's the trick [the soda industry] is using,' says Dr. Michael Siegel of Boston University School of Public Health. 'This is just a mirage by the soda industry to try to hide the fact that this is a targeted tax on sugar-sweetened beverages."

What's actually on the ballots in San Francisco, Oakland and Albany, Calif., and in Boulder, Colo., are measures to tax soda and other sugary drinks."

Allison Aubrey reports for NPR October 20, 2016.

SEE ALSO:

"Bernie’s Beef With Big Soda" (Politico)

"Soda Industry Tries To Woo Public Health Groups With Sponsorship Deals" (NPR)

"Big Soda Sponsored 96 Health Groups — A Big Conflict Of Interest, Study Says" (Washington Post)