SEATTLE, WA – With the measure to tax sweetened beverages approved by the Cook County IL Board, Jim Krieger, MD, MPH, the executive director of Healthy Food America, issued this statement:

“Today, Cook County became the seventh place in the nation to pass a sugary drink tax. Tax advocates have now won seven of the past seven tax campaigns, five of them in the past two days. Big Soda spent over $42 million this year alone to defeat taxes on sugary drinks but these seven communities have now taken on the likes of Coca-Cola and Pepsi and prevailed. Communities now know they can stand up to Big Soda and win. We expect to see many more tax measures pass in 2017.

I congratulate the Cook County Illinois Board for passing its sugary drink tax. This effort was led by Board President Toni Preckwinkle and supported by local and national health organizations. Now millions of people in Cook County will benefit from over $223 million in revenue to support community needs while reducing diabetes, extending lives, and averting over $222 million in health costs over 10 years. This brings the total number of people benefitting from sugary drink taxes across the nation to over 8 million people with over $342 million in projected revenue and over $360 million in health care savings.”