The Chicago Sun-Times has penned an editorial, "City soft drink tax would fizzle," opposing Chicago Alderman George Cardenas’ proposal to impose a penny-per-ounce tax on common groceries items such as juices, teas and soda.

“A better way to combat the poor dietary habits that are to blame for alarmingly high rates of obesity and diabetes is public education, as First Lady Michelle Obama has been showing us for years,” the editorial board wrote.

They are exactly right. And the beverage industry is doing its part to provide consumers with the options and information to help them make the choice that’s right for them and their families. Our front-of-pack calorie labeling effort – Clear on Calories – was launched in support of the First Lady’s “Let's Move!” campaign back in 2010.

The industry’s most recent effort – the Balance Calories Initiative – is helping consumers in a number of ways as well. Working with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, America’s leading beverage companies have set a goal to reduce beverage calories consumed per person nationally by 20 percent by 2025. To do this, they will leverage their marketing, innovation and distribution strength to increase and sustain consumer interest in and access to smaller portion sizes, water and other no- or lower-calorie beverages. They also will place calorie counts and promote calorie awareness on all beverage company-controlled point-of-sale equipment nationwide, including more than three million vending machines, self-serve fountain dispensers and retail coolers in convenience stores, restaurants and other locations.

We believe that efforts such as these are more effective than discriminatory taxes and regulations, which do little to impact public health and have unintended consequences.

To that end, the editorial board goes on to emphasize the detrimental effect a tax would have on Chicago businesses.

“In Chicago, the new tax would hurt businesses at a time when the city should be doing everything reasonable thing to grow the local economy,” they said.

As the Chicagoans recover from one of the worst economic downturn in our lifetimes, the last thing they need is another burdensome tax on common grocery items.

And then there’s the fact that Americans oppose restrictions on their beverage choices. Consumers are empowered to make their own decisions about what they eat and drink without government intervention. And they are doing just that.

The editorial board points out that, “Almost every proposed soft drink tax that has been proposed around the country has been voted down …”

The Chicago Sun-Times nailed it; taxing beverages is bad public policy and wholly ineffective.

To take a stand against the beverage tax, join the Chicago Coalition Against Beverage Taxes, a coalition of more than 1,000 concerned Chicago families, small businesses, labor unions, chambers of commerce and community organizations. Visit the coalition website at www.noillinoisbeveragetax.com.