In a latest loss of face for public health advocates, California lawmakers have rejected a proposed tax on sodas and other sugary beverages.
The legislation brought in the assembly by Assemblyman Richard Bloom asked to impose an extra 2 cents per ounce as charge for sugar-sweetened beverages including soda and certain fruit and energy drinks.
The money raised through this was expected to pay for public-health programs.
Health advocates have been crying hoarse for years about the impact of sugary beverages on health, leading to alarming obesity and diabetes rates.
But lawmakers have rejected this approach, though they agree on the harmful impact of sugar.
This is not the first time that lawmakers have dragged feet on advancing bills targeting the soda industry. Recently a proposal to add warning labels on sugary drinks was quashed, while other soda tax proposals were stalled in 2013 and 2010.
However, the bill's opponents and some independent doctors are of the opinion that it is unfair to single out sugary drinks as the cause for obesity and diabetes as other factors play an equally important role.
Meanwhile, Berkeley voters approved the first local soda tax in the US in November.
