The Obama Administration Will Not Be Pushing A Soda Tax In New Healthy Food Guidelines

The Obama administration will not be pushing a tax against soda, like former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to previously implement.

Sylvia Burwell, the Health and Human Services Secretary, told the House Agriculture Committee on October 7 that the administration is not focused on taxing sugary sodas when they discussed their upcoming healthy food guidelines.

"We do not believe that that is something in scope of the work that we are doing," Burwell told the committee.

Mayor Bloomberg was adamant about passing a soda ban in New York City as a way to fight obesity. He donated $85,000 in October 2014 to a campaign in Berkeley, California to tax sugary drinks.

Some representatives who attended the committee meeting had mixed feelings about the soda tax.

"When I see issues like tax on sodas and other things being recommended it seems to me that ideology is taking precedence over science and that creates a tremendous credibility gap," Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) told The New York Post.

However, the White House is taking other measures to keep America healthy, such as focusing on children. Last month, large companies that cater school lunches for children announced that they are going to tweak their recipes to be more nutritious per First Lady Michelle Obama's Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act.

The finalized health guidelines will be released in December.