Assemblywoman Proposes Tax on Candy and Snack Food Consumption

(Sacramento)  — Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D- Bell Gardens) has announced that she will be introducing an Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) to re-institute the charging of sales tax on candy and snack food, to create a funding stream to combat health disorders caused by the unhealthy diets of processed snack foods in California.

“We’ve seen the results of the explosion of snack food consumption on our society and the negative health repercussions,” Garcia said. “Obesity, diabetes, hypertension, tooth decay, these and so many other conditions are a directly attributable to the poor modern diet made up of high calorie, ultra-processed foods.”

In 1992, fueled by a multi-million dollar campaign paid for by food manufacturers and industry organizations, California passed Proposition 163 repealing the imposition of a tax on candy, chips, snack cakes and other processed snack items. In fact, even today in California law these items are categorized as “Essential Food Items.”

Garcia stated that much has changed in the past 24-years, where fatty, high sugar, high fat snacks are no longer considered essential, especially to poorer communities, as was argued by the snack food industry in 1992.

“I know from my own district that this population is the most impacted by health disorders caused by cheap, unhealthy snack foods, but we as a state have an opportunity to change the course and for a few extra pennies spent on snack foods, we will become a healthier population,”

A recent UCLA Study entitled Prediabetes: Generation in Jeopardy highlights the toll that poor nutrition and unhealthy lifestyles are having on Californians. An alarming 55% of the adult population in California is affected by diabetes, with 33% of young adults being diagnosed at prediabetic.

Removing the snack food tax exemption will generate close to $900 million per year, funding health services and programs to promote healthy eating & lifestyles, particularly for children and families living in poverty.

If passed by the Legislature, Garcia said that she is targeting the year 2018 to put her ACA before the voters and is confident that her measure will be strongly supported by the public and by health and social justice organizations from throughout the state.

“Looking back, it is evident that when the snack food industry bankrolled Proposition 163, they perpetrated a predatory act. They convinced the voters to embed in our Constitution the supremacy of  Ding Dongs, Snickers and Cheetos, over the good health of generations of Californians,” Garcia said, adding “Only by a public vote can we undo this calculated act that unfairly targets the poor and the quality of life for so many Californians.”

Tax fairness is another issue that Garcia hopes to address with her measure, “When health products, many times suggested by doctors, or tampons, designated by the FDA as a “Medical Devices,” are charged sales tax and a Twinkie or a Milky Way bar are not, then I think it is time for the voters to weigh in,’ she concluded.

The 58th Assembly District includes the cities of Montebello, Pico Rivera, Commerce, Bell Gardens, Downey, Norwalk, Bellflower, Cerritos and Artesia.