WASHINGTON, June 15 (UPI) -- Health experts favor taxing sweetened drinks and increasing taxes on alcoholic beverages, the director of a Yale research center said this week.
Kelly Brownell of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity said a federal tax could cut consumption of sweetened beverages. An added tax on alcohol could both reduce drinking and help fund medical care of alcohol-related conditions, Brownell said, comparing it to high cigarette taxes.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, called them "nuisance taxes," however.
Also in opposition is Kevin Keane, a spokesman for the American Beverage Association.
"It would not even make a dent in addressing the healthcare challenge or the obesity challenge," Keane said.
USA Today reported the taxes will probably not be added to this year's healthcare legislation, although it has been considered by the Senate Finance Committee.
