How Effective is the Soda Tax in the Cities that are Implementing it?

by Lauren Scott

One of the main culprits of weight gain is consuming sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, energy drinks and fruit drinks, for example. These sugar-sweetened beverages are also called SSBs (Zhao et al., 2025). A major public health problem in the United States is obesity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity is when a person has “excessive and abnormal fat” that has accumulated in their body (World Health Organization: WHO, 2020, p.1). SSBs contain sugars in many forms such as glucose and fructose, which can lead to obesity. One striking fact that Zhao et al. stated was that $850 is spent annually on soft drinks, in an average U.S. household (Zhao et al., 2025). In order to combat obesity and reduce the purchasing of SSBs, some cities have implemented a sugar tax. A sugar tax is a tax of 1-cent-per-ounce (Zhao et al, 2025). There have been a few cities that are implementing the soda tax and the question is if it is effective in these cities. Some cities that implemented the soda tax are Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland in California. 

In Berkeley, California, the soda tax was introduced in 2014. Then after that, many cities followed. Professor Kristine Madsen, faculty director of the Berkeley Food Institute and Pediatrician said that the soda tax decreased the amount of SSBs that have been purchased. She brought up a good point about low-income neighborhoods. They suffer the worst when it comes to cases of obesity and diabetes (Price, 2023). According to Jennifer Falbe et al., a study they conducted showed that SSBs are more likely to be consumed by low-income individuals (Fable, 2016). “Berkeley vs. Big Soda” was a pro-tax campaign that fought against the Soda corporations and how harmful SSBs are to health (Falbe et al., 2016).

In neighboring San Francisco, as of 2023, they celebrated their 5 year soda tax anniversary (SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH CELEBRATES 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF SAN FRANCISCO’S SODA TAX WITH A SERIES OF EVENTS, 2023).  There are many communities in San Francisco that benefited from the soda tax, such as BIPOC farmers, and businesses. For example, the Bayview Black Organic Farmers Program are able to secure economic stability (SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH CELEBRATES 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF SAN FRANCISCO’S SODA TAX WITH A SERIES OF EVENTS, 2023). According to the San Francisco Public Health Department, the soda tax enables job opportunities and connection amongst communities ( SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH CELEBRATES 5TH ANNIVERSARY OF SAN FRANCISCO’S SODA TAX WITH A SERIES OF EVENTS, 2023). The soda tax in San Francisco generates about $15-16 million a year (Another soda tax success story: sugary beverage consumption drops in San Francisco - Public Health Institute, 2023). The Public Health Institutes Prevention Policy said that after 2 years of implementation of the soda tax, there was a 34.1% drop (Another soda tax success story: sugary beverage consumption drops in San Francisco - Public Health Institute, 2023). The Public Health Department also stated that the BIPOC community consumes SSBs at a high rate (Dickey, 2023). The soda tax impacts these communities and the diseases that impact them, such as obesity (Dickey, 2023). 

In Oakland, which is close to San Francisco, the soda tax was implemented on July 1st, 2017 (White et al., 2023). Post soda tax, retail sales decreased by 14% (White et al., 2023). Public Health advocates would like a state- level taxation in California. Justin White and colleagues evaluated the sugar tax started in Oakland (White et al., 2023). They said that health outcomes and dietary choices improved from the soda tax (White et al., 2023). . The soda tax also affected fast food restaurants in Oakland (Marinello et al., 2020). Consuming fast-food that contain SSBs is popular among adults and children, and California is just one example of a state that has implemented the soda tax. By 2032, 266,000 cases of obesity will occur (Liu et al., 2025). Emily Liu et al., conducted a cohort study that contained 1,044,272 participants, in cities with or without the soda tax. The Body Mass Index (BMI) among participants ages 20 to 39 decreased in those living in the soda tax areas (Liu et al., 2025). 3 separate cities incorporated the soda taxes at different times. These cities were Berkeley, San Francisco and Oakland. In all cities, the amount of SSBs consumed decreased. They decreased at different rates. This leads to lower BMI, and lower risk of health diseases and conditions (Liu et al., 2025). The soda tax leads to better dietary habits and the drinking of other non SSBs, such was water (Falbe et al., 2016). In the Berkeley low-income community , there was a 21% decrease in SSB consumption (Falbe et al., 2016). The decreases in SSB consumption in all three cities in California, helped to prevent diabetes and obesity. 

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