Pushing for taxed drinks

Do you love or enjoy drinking sport drinks, sodas, even tea? Well, that love may begin to drift away, lawmakers throughout the country are contemplating putting taxes on drinks. Politicians believe that the taxes will help slowly decrease the rates of diabetes and obesity and with the taxes it can help pay for health programs. On the other hand the retailers do not believe this idea is going to work. They think it is unfair and taxes are unpopular. I have to agree with the retailers. If the taxes are incorporated with drinks then customers are going to start buying in bulk.

In 2009 the federal lawmakers made a proposal to use a penny per ounce for drink tax, which is an extra $1.44 for a 12 pack of soda. With the help of this proposal it would help pay for the health care reform legislation. Currently Washington DC and 30 other states are in deliberation about this taxes on drinks. In a recent study by Kelly Brownell who is a director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, 17 states and three cities have proposed to implement drink tax legislation in 2009-2010. Mary Cheh who is a DC Councilwoman proposed the idea for the 1 cent per once tax. Cheh expected this idea would round up about $6 million to $9 million in its first year. However with the beverage industry opposing this idea, this may force the Council to consider a sales tax. Next week, there will be a vote on the extension of sales tax towards drinks.

Check out Washington Post for full article.

Attempted decrease

On May 17, 2010 multiple major food manufactures have pledged to implement more healthful options, cut portion sizes and trim the calories in previous food products. The Healthy weight commitment Foundation is a coalition including the following groups: Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kellogg, Kraft Foods and Pepsi Co. They plan to cut 1 trillion calories by 2012 and 1.5 trillion calories by the end of 2015. This is one of the campaigns that hopes to end childhood obesity within a generation.
Food industries are under pressure by First Lady Michelle Obama and also local and state governments because they are deliberating about implementing junk-food taxes and other anti-obesity measures. Each year the progress of the food industries will be assessed by the Partnership for Healthier America, which is a nonpartisan organization, and if one industry does not fulfill the requirements all for the industries will be held responsible. The first check will be held in 2013.
One trillion is a whole lot of calories to cut out of all foods. It makes me wonder how they are going to do that. Are companies going to use more sucralose and less fructose? Even if they manage to succeed in decreasing the calorie amount, kids or adults may just find a way around that and eat larger quantities of the food, in the still eating the same amount of calories they ate before the calories were reduced. Reducing the calories is a great idea, but on top of that they should have more food products that are already portioned out for the buyers.

Check whole article out at Washington Post.

Kuwait's gone over the limit

Did you know that our fattest nation on earth is Kuwait? I was pleasantly suprised to find this out; mostly because it means America is not #1 in this category. According to the World Health Organization 74% of Kuwait's population is overweight. Instead of opting for a fresh, home cooked meal, people of the Kuwait commumity choose fast food such as Burger King, McDonald's, ect. If you live in Kuwait and don't feel like going to the fast food restaurant, do not worry, McDonald or Burger King has no issue delivering the food to your front door. For now only 14% of the population has diabetes but diabetes (a disease often associated with the consumption of fast food) is still on the rise in Kuwait. In the past 15 years, being overweight and obese has increased in the country.
Get healthy Kuwait (GHK) has discovered very alarming rates of children being obese. Children as young as 8 are being affected with adult-onset diabetes. In some malls, schools, and offices GHK is offering to weigh people and also give them free blood sugar and cholesterol tests. I think it is a very good idea and may help the community out by offering the cholesterol test. However even though this is an offer, is someof the community going to accept this offer or continue on with their unhealthy choices? To me, Kuwait could be healthier country but the people are choosing fast food over vegetable, fruits, and healthy proteins. Besides also the article states taht Kuwait is a very wealthy country, and they are very capable of buying healthy food.

Check whole article out on CNN.