Children’s Charity Drops Support for Soda Tax

The national nonprofit group Save the Children, which emerged in the past year as a leader in campaigns to tax sweetened soft drinks, has reversed its position on the issue, according to The New York Times.

In an October e-mail to activists, Save the Children said it would no longer back efforts to impose a levy on soft drinks, as it had done since late 2009 with funds from a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant to fight childhood obesity.

Supporters of the tax say it could reduce obesity by lessening kids’ consumption of high-calorie beverages. Campaigns in several states and cities have failed to impose the levy, which is strongly opposed by soft-drink makers.

Save the Children has been in talks with Coca-Cola about a grant for its health and education programs and last year received a $5-million award from Pepsi, but Carolyn Miles, the charity’s chief operating officer, said its switch on the tax was not related to its ties with the beverage companies.