Save the Children, a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to children’s welfare, has been a leader in pushing taxes on soft drinks as a way to combat childhood obesity. But the organization has decided not to lobby for such taxes now that it is seeking increased funding from Coca Cola and Pepsi.

 

Pepsi has already given $5 million to Save the Children, and Coca Cola is considering a grant of its own. The non-profit’s chief operating officer, Carolyn Miles, told The New York Times that there is no connection between the group’s about-face on soda taxes and the funding opportunities with the soft drink giants.

 

Save the Children had previously supported soda tax campaigns in Mississippi, New Mexico, Washington State, Philadelphia and the District of Columbia. There is no evidence to support the rumor that the group will be renaming itself “Save the Children…Except Their Teeth.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Save the Children Breaks with Soda Tax Effort (by William Neuman, New York Times)

Taxing Soft Drinks to Pay for Their Cost to Society (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)