“People don’t support taxes and bans on common grocery items, like soft drinks.  That’s why the public policy debate has largely moved on from taxes and bans.  Our industry will continue working with serious policy leaders to focus on meaningful solutions that address the complex issue of obesity.

America’s leading beverage companies have set a goal to reduce beverage calories consumed per person by 20 percent by 2025.  This is the single-largest voluntary effort by an industry to help fight obesity and will transform the beverage landscape in America.  This partnership leverages the marketing, innovation and distribution strengths of America’s leading beverage companies to work toward a common goal of reducing beverage calories in the American diet.  We are committed to providing consumers with more choices, smaller portions and fewer calories, and this initiative takes that to an ambitious new level.

This commitment builds on a long track record of beverage industry leadership.  We have supported parents by removing full-calorie sodas from schools, cutting calories available from beverages in schools by 90 percent. We are empowering consumers to make the choices that are right for them by placing clear calorie labels on the front of all our products. We’ve expanded options for consumers by providing more smaller-portion sizes and no- and lower-calorie beverages. These efforts are in place, working and will have an impact far greater than a tax ever could.”

# # # 

The American Beverage Association is the trade association representing the broad spectrum of companies that manufacture and distribute non-alcoholic beverages in the United States.  For more information on ABA, please visit the association’s Web site at www.ameribev.org or call the ABA communications team at (202) 463-6770.

-30-