SEATTLE, WA – With measures to tax sugary drinks in Boulder, San Francisco, Oakland and Albany, CA all poised to pass by significant margins, Jim Krieger, MD, MPH, the executive director of Healthy Food America, issued this statement:

“This is an astonishing repudiation of Big Soda. For too long, the big soda companies got away with putting profits over their customers’ health. That changed tonight. Despite the billions spent on marketing and more than $30 million in deceitful campaign ads, voters saw the truth and sent a clear message that their families’ health comes first – thanks to an incredible, neighbor-to-neighbor grassroots campaign and support from Michael Bloomberg and Laura and John Arnold that helped level the playing field.

This vote is an historic turning point in the effort to bring sugar back to healthy levels. Interest in this issue was soaring even before this key victory – we’ve heard from 12 cities and six states seriously considering a tax on sugary drinks in 2017. Now we expect many more places to act to tax an unhealthy product to raise revenue to promote health and other community priorities, reduce diabetes rates and give an edge to the products that are better for their health.”