Americans should pay taxes on sugary sodas and snacks as a way to cut down on sweets, though they no longer need to worry about cholesterol, according to scientists helping to revamp dietary guidelines as US obesity levels surge.
The recommendations Thursday from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee also call for Americans to reduce meat consumption and to take sustainability into account when dining.
Suggestions by the nonpartisan panel of academics and scientists help shape school lunch menus and the $6 billion a year Women, Infants and Children program, which serves more than 8 million Americans buying groceries from retailers including Wal-Mart and Kroger.
The recommendations went to the the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services that later this year will issue guidelines used to create the government’s icon for healthy diets, currently a dinner plate that replaced the widely used food pyramid.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the two agencies will focus on diet and nutrition recommendations, and he declined to comment on any policy initiatives such as a tax.
“I don’t want anything that would undercut the legitimacy, credibility and acceptance of the guidelines,” he said Thursday on a conference call with reporters.
More than two-thirds of US adults and nearly one-third of youth are overweight or obese.
Soda makers and packaged-food companies including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Kraft Foods, Mondelez and Hershey all fell when the report was released. Most later recovered.
Bloomberg News, edited by ESM
