A new study released by the University of California Berkeley (UCB) is showing that the nation’s first sugary drink tax, passed by the city in 2014, is working. Consumers in Berkeley’s low-income neighborhoods are drinking 21% less soda and other sugary drinks since the tax was implemented in March 2015. These results are promising, and suggest Oakland residents could see a similar impact if Measure HH is passed.

This research shows Berkeley’s tax has both discouraged sugary drinks and encouraged consumers to switch to healthier drinks: during the study period, consumption of tap and bottled water among residents increased by 63%. Only 2% of Berkeley residents reported traveling across city lines to buy tax-free soda.

“We are looking for tools that support people in making healthy choices, and the soda tax appears to be an effective tool,” stated study author Kristine Madsen, an associate professor of public health at UCB. The authors also suggest that the campaign to pass Measure D may have also played a part in encouraging residents to switch to healthier drinks: “It’s possible that successful campaigning around the tax raised awareness of the health impacts of sugary drinks.”

These results are even more favorable than the results seen in Mexico, where a 17% decline in soda consumption was reported among low-income households after the first year of its one-peso-per-liter soda tax that went into effect in 2013.

Not surprisingly, Big Soda is using the usual tactics of trying to discredit this rigorous peer-reviewed study. Don’t be surprised to see more ads coming to fight this tax. Big Soda has reserved roughly $9.5 million in television ad time before Election Day and already has spent $1 million on commercials in the Bay Area.

Read more about the study results at: http://news.berkeley.edu/2016/08/23/sodadrinking/