Confused About What Cook County’s Soda Tax Covers? Here’s What You Need to Know

Greg Trotter

Let’s get this one out of the way: your LaCroix sparkling water will not incurCookCounty’s penny-per-ounce sweetened beverage tax, set to go into effect Wednesday.

But the so-called soda tax applies to much more than just pop. Any nonalcoholic beverage that’s either sugar or artificially sweetened will be taxed, which means fountain drinks as well as bottled and canned beverages. The tax applies to soda and diet soda, ready-to-drink sweetened coffees and teas, sports and energy drinks, and juice products that aren’t 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, among other beverages.

Be it a Coca-Cola made with high fructose corn syrup or a Bai Limu Lemonade, sweetened with a proprietary mix of stevia and erythritol – it’s going to cost you a penny per ounce more.

Here are some other noteworthy examples of beverages that will and won’t be taxed.

Sparkling water

The Can the Tax Coalition, the beverage industry-funded opposition toCookCounty’s sweetened beverage tax, has claimed the tax will apply to flavored waters.

But as mentioned above, LaCroix and other similarly flavored bubbly waters, such as Perrier and Soleil, won’t be taxed because they’re not sweetened. Some flavored sparkling waters, such as Sparkling Ice and Polar Sparkling Frost, are indeed sweetened and therefore would be taxed.

Ultimately, thrifty shoppers will have to acquaint themselves with the various names for sweeteners and examine ingredients to know for sure whether they’ll be taxed.

Juice

If you drink 100 percent fruit or vegetable juices, you won’t pay any more than you do now. They’re exempt.

But many juice drinks, like Sunny D, Jumex and a wide variety of other brands, are made with sugar or other sweeteners and will be taxed.

The tax does not, however, apply to juice concentrates. (Nor does it apply to powders or syrups bought at the store, like Gatorade or Crystal Light, and mixed by consumers at home).

Sparkling fruit-flavored drinks, made with juice or concentrates and not otherwise sweetened, including products made by Izze and Spindrift, also will not be taxed.

Mixers

CookCountybar patrons likely will pay more for whiskey and Coke, and other mixed drinks. Under the ordinance, if the mixer meets the definition of a sweetened beverage, then it should be taxed just the same.

Likewise, many popular mixers for drinks like margaritas and Bloody Marys contain some form of sweetener.

Coffee drinks

Ready-to-drink sweetened coffee drinks will be taxed, but not on-demand, custom-sweetened beverages, such as those mixed by a server or barista, or a handmade Frappuccino. If you order a coffee with sugar at a Dunkin’ Donuts, you will not be charged the tax.

Other exemptions include: milk, soy, rice, or similar milk substitutes if they are the primary ingredient, infant formula, and beverages for medical use.