Shade Index
7 Unforeseen Consequences of Seattle’s Soda Tax
The newly approved tax on sugary beverages, a health measure with a confusing tangle of exemptions, takes effect next year. Cost of soda will go up. Number of cavity fillings will go down. And things could get weird.
Image: Shutterstock by Scanrail1
- Vague “handcrafted beverage” exemption spawns new category of pornographylike litmus test: I know it when I see it.
- Three out of four local dentists no longer able to afford mortgage on cute vacation cabin.
- Seattleites lose focus on crucial “soda” versus “pop” nomenclature debate.
- Fruit juice enjoys brief moment of retail glory before everyone remembers—it’s full of sugar too.
- Surprising new identity for Big Gulps: ostentatious status symbol.
- Fearing sin tax precedent, the local cupcake cabal lawyers up.
- The shadowy LaCroix lobby wins again.
