America drinks less soda: The soda industry sees an all-time-low in sales

Soda sales decrease while water sales climb

Around five years ago, the soda industry fought back against Mayor Michael A. Nutter's proposal of imposing soda taxes in Philadelphia. Soda lobbyists back then organized protests and came up with campaign contributions to local politicians, with the assistance of allies, such as the Teamsters union, and local bottling companies. Today, it seems soda companies are dwindling in power.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - To polish its image, the soda industry contributed $10 million to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and, with help from lobbyist campaigns, the soda tax proposal never got past the the City Council Committee. 

This has also happened in other cities such as San Francisco, California and New York, NY. It is only in Berkeley, California that the soda taxes succeeded, despite industry objections. 
The anti-obesity campaigners have reminded people that soda is not a healthy product. They were able to echo the same messages that public health researchers want to convey to people, and by doing so it seems their campaign is slowly changing the way Americans see soda. 
In the past 20 years, the sales of full-calorie soda in the US has fallen by over 25 percent. This is terrible news for the soda industry. From the 1960s to the 1990s, soda consumption was at an all-time high. Since the 90s, the industry has seen a steady decline.
The sales of bottled water has increased and, according to an industry projection, bottled water will overtake soda as the largest beverage category in two years. The decline in soda consumption shows the single largest change in the American diet in the last decade, and is responsible for the significant reduction in the number of daily calories consumed by the average American child. 
The change was also observed to be happening faster in Philadelphia than in other states. The city Department of Public Health reported the daily soda consumption among teenagers from 2007 to 2013 has dropped 24 percent.
Although the soda tax didn't pass, the debates about drinking soda were enough to discourage people from drinking them. 
Philadelphia has one of the country's strictest menu-labeling laws and has been running ads on TV and the radio to encourage parents not to serve sugary drinks to their kids. 
The Philadelphia school district is not allowed to sell sugary drinks in schools and has limited their availability in public vending machines. The city even offers financial incentives for corner stores to showcase healthy foods. Educators are also sent into public school classrooms to teach kids about proper nutrition.
Aside from Philadelphia, the rate of soda consumption is reducing in other cities and towns too. People have realized that after decades of marketing and selling these sugary but popular beverages, the changing public attitude is what determines the nature of the business. 
Health and wellness is a trend among many and, for public health advocates, soda is a kind of toxin that should be banned, taxed, and stigmatized. 
Mayor Nutter, who is set to leave his office in January, said, "It's a fight every day, and you just have to stick with it. You can't give up, because it's just really important."

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