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American Beverage Association Senior Vice President Tells New York Committee There is No Significant Link Between Soft Drinks and Obesity

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American Beverage Association Senior Vice President Tells New York Committee There is No Significant Link Between Soft Drinks and Obesity

WASHINGTON, D.C. -  Today in Albany, ABA Senior Vice President for Science and Policy Maureen Storey, Ph.D., submitted written testimony to a joint meeting of the New York State Senate Finance Committee and The Assembly Ways and Means Committee which debunked the alleged link between soft drinks and obesity.  The Committees are meeting to discuss the State's Fiscal Year 2009 Budget, including Governor Paterson's proposal to impose an 18 percent sales tax on dozens of beverages including regular soft drinks, juice drinks, and teas.

"Despite what Gov. Paterson and Commissioner Daines claim, the science is clear: the association between sugar-sweetened soft drinks and obesity, if it exists at all, is so weak that total abstinence from soda drinking will have no impact on public health,"  Dr. Storey said in her testimony.

Dr. Storey also pointed out limitations in the study that Gov. Paterson and others are using to support the so-called "obesity tax."  In public comments, Gov. Paterson and his team rely heavily, if not entirely, on a study published eight years ago in a British journal called The Lancet. But even in that study, Dr. David Ludwig and his coauthors acknowledge their study's limitations, admitting that they "cannot prove causality" between soft drink consumption and obesity. 

"I would like to reiterate what the science already says: that soft drinks are not a unique contributor to obesity and to say otherwise is misleading to the people of New York State. And a so-called ‘obesity tax' on beverages would have no noticeable impact on the health of citizens," Dr. Storey said. 

The full testimony is available here.

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The American Beverage Association is the trade association representing the broad spectrum of companies that manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages in the United States.

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