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WASHINGTON — As discussion about taxes on sugary drinks increases, a study found calorie-based taxing could be the most effective option.
The study found that consumption of calories in drinks would drop 9.3 percent if a tax of four-hundredths of a penny for every calorie were added to the price, according to The New York Times. That means with a tax rate of four-hundredths of a penny per calorie, six cents would be added to a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation financed the study. The foundation has advocated taxing sodas and other sugary drinks in an effort to curb childhood obesity.
“From a public health point of view, it makes a lot of sense to tax the sugar, which is the most harmful part of these drinks,” Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Health, told The New York Times.
“We want to shift consumers from drinking more sugar to drinking less, so taxing beverages with more sugar more makes sense.”
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