San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom’s plan to impose a citywide surcharge on soda sales has rightly drawn the ire of consumer groups coast to coast. Too bad it’s also drawn the applause of nutrition zealots giddy at the prospect of having their science-free, anti-food dogmas written into law.
Yesterday obesity crusader Meme Roth shilled for Newsom on CNN Headline News. We were her foil. Roth “argued” for the surcharge by firing off a series of baseless assertions, the gem being:
Soda pop [is] the new cigarette industry.
We observed:
It’s really unfortunate that people lose sight of what the real causes of obesity are … If they’re going to tax soda, then they better start taxing the people who make sofas. And they’d better start taxing the people who make video games.
Here’s the kicker. San Francisco’s public school system is out of compliance with California’s physical education standards. Unlike the high-fructose corn syrup Newsom and Roth are always complaining about, physical inactivity is actually a well-documented cause of obesity.
As we pointed out:
Gavin Newsom should probably have his own house in order and talk to his school districts about getting kids into physical education classes.
