"The Decline of ‘Big Soda’"

"The drop in soda consumption represents the single largest change in the American diet in the last decade."

"Five years ago, Mayor Michael A. Nutter proposed a tax on soda in Philadelphia, and the industry rose up to beat it back.

Soda lobbyists made campaign contributions to local politicians and staged rallies, with help from allies like the Teamsters union and local bottling companies. To burnish its image, the industry donated $10 million to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

It worked: The soda tax proposal never got out of a City Council committee."

Margot Sanger-Katz reports for the New York Times October 2, 2015.