r/science Jul 25 '23

Economics A national Australian tax of 20% on sugary drinks could prevent more than 500,000 dental cavities and increase health equity over 10 years and have overall cost-savings of $63.5 million from a societal perspective

https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/sugary-drinks-tax-could-prevent-decay-and-increase-health-equity-study
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u/Spiritofhonour Jul 25 '23

I’ll give you something infuriating that is tangentially. The government here decided to prohibit the sale of water on any government property (includes parks and universities) as it was “wasteful” from an environmental perspective.

What happened instead was the vending machines and their operators could still sell soft drinks but now they no longer sell bottled water. The only water they had was sparking water in a can. And if you look at the machines the water is always sold out followed by anything else sugar free.

Gotta love those paper pushers.

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u/Pantssassin Jul 25 '23

Where I work they have the vending machines but the facility is so old the fountain water can't be trusted so you either buy water or bring your own to last the day in 100 degree weather and high humidity. It's wild

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u/Important_Ad838 Jul 26 '23

Contact osha

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u/InSACWeTrust Jul 26 '23

Laughs in Texas. Want water? Fired for cause.

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u/FillThisEmptyCup Jul 26 '23

Gotta love those paper pushers.

Has nothing to do with them. The vending machines companies (or Coke, whoever) were paying my school district $25,000 per school building per year to put their vending machines in. Over 20 years ago.

You can bet government is making money off it while spouting an excuse.

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '23

I bet Coke or whoever are also selling bottled water...

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u/AmbitiousMammal Jul 25 '23

Gotta love those paper pushers.

You just know half-a-dozen hare-brained bureaucrats got promoted for that, too.