Food Programme - Soft Drinks

Sheila Dillon investigates the latest trends in the world of soft drinks and asks why a number of cities in the United States are trying to tax sugary drinks? The City of Philadelphia, along with New York and Pittsburg, is attempting to levy a tax on so called sugar sweetened beverages. The Deputy Mayor of Philadelphia and Health Commissioner, Dr Donald Schwartz believes the link between sugary soda drinks and obesity is strong enough to justify a 2 cents per ounce tax to reduce consumption. A vote on the tax will take place at the end of May. The American Beverage Association, which represents Pepsico and Coca Cola, strongly disagrees with the soda tax. It argues that it is not the solution to America's obesity problem and has spent millions of dollars lobbying Congress to convince policy makers to reject the idea. Here, the Food Standards Agency is taking a different approach. It is working with the soft drinks industry to try and remove sugar from the regular brands of soft drink. So far only Pepsico has said it will commit to a 4% sugar reduction target. Sheila asks which of these two strategies will bring the greatest health benefits? Producer: Dan Saladino.