of obese adults have type 2 diabetes, high blood cho-
lesterol, high blood pressure, or other related condi-
tions. According to the CDC, nearly 60 percent of 
overweight children have at least one risk factor for 
heart disease. 
(6) Overweight and obesity increase the risk for 
several types of common cancers, including post-
menopausal breast, colorectal, endometrial, kidney, 
pancreatic, esophageal, and gall bladder cancer. Up 
to one in four of all cancer cases and one in three 
cancer deaths are due to poor nutrition, physical in-
activity, and overweight and obesity. 
(7) There is overwhelming evidence of the link 
between the consumption of sugar-sweetened bev-
erages, such as non-diet soft drinks, energy drinks, 
sweet teas, and sports drinks, and obesity and diabe-
tes. Adults who drink one sugar-sweetened beverage 
or more per day are 27 percent more likely to be 
overweight or obese, regardless of income or eth-
nicity. After six months, daily consumption of one 
liter of sugar-sweetened beverages increases fat de-
posits in the liver by 150 percent, which directly 
contributes to both diabetes and heart disease. 
(8) According to nutrition experts, sugar-sweet-
ened beverages, such as soft drinks, energy drinks, 
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sweet teas, and sport drinks, offer little or no nutri-
tional value, but massive quantities of added sugars. 
A 20-ounce bottle of soda contains about 16 
teaspoons of sugars. Yet, the American Heart Asso-
ciation recommends that Americans consume no 
more than six to nine teaspoons of sugar per day. 
(9) The 2010 Dietary Guidelines stated that al-
most one-half of the added sugars Americans con-
sume come from sugar-sweetened beverages, with 
the average American drinking nearly 45 gallons of 
sugar-sweetened beverages a year, the equivalent of 
39 pounds of extra sugar every year. 
(10) Though sugar-sweetened beverage con-
sumption is declining modestly as people learn about 
their harmful health effects, Americans are still con-
suming twice as much of these products as they did 
in the 1970s. Five percent of Americans consume at 
least 567 kcal from sugar drinks on any given day— 
equal to more than four 12-ounce cans of soft drink. 
According to the National Center for Health Statis-
tics, one-third of calories from added sugars (33 per-
cent) consumed in the United States were from bev-
erages. In children and adolescents, 40 percent of 
the calories from added sugars came from beverages. 
Children and adolescents consume 10 to 15 percent 
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of their total daily caloric intake from sugar-sweet-
ened beverages. 
(11) In a study of more than 50,000 female 
nurses, women who increased their sugar-sweetened 
beverage consumption from no more than one per 
week to at least one per day gained an average of 
10 pounds over four years. Research also shows a 
significant link between sugar-sweetened beverage 
consumption and weight gain in children. In a ran-
domized double-blind controlled trial of roughly 640 
children, those who were given one 8-ounce serving 
sugar-sweetened beverage a day gained more weight 
and body fat over 11⁄2 years than those who got one 
8-ounce serving of a sugar-free beverage. 
(12) Sugar-sweetened beverages are a unique 
contributor to excess caloric consumption. A large 
body of research shows that calories from sugar- 
sweetened beverages do not satisfy hunger the way 
calories from solid food or fat or protein-containing 
beverages such as those containing milk and plant- 
based proteins. As a result, sugar-sweetened bev-
erages tend to add to the calories people consume 
rather than replace calories from other foods and 
beverages. 
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(13) Overweight children have a much greater 
chance of being obese as adults, with all the health 
risks that entails. 
(14) Type 2 diabetes, previously only seen 
among adults, is now increasing among children. 
Data show that almost a quarter of teens now have 
either diabetes or prediabetes. If the current trends 
are not reversed, it is predicted that one in three 
children and nearly one-half of Latino and African- 
American children born in the year 2000 will develop 
type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. 
(15) People who consume an average amount of 
added sugar equivalent to one 20-ounce soda per day 
are 30 percent more likely to die from a heart attack 
over 15 years. People who consume the added sugar 
equivalent of at least 2–3 20-ounce sodas per day 
are 2.75 times more likely to die from a heart at-
tack. 
(16) Tooth decay (dental caries) is the single 
most common chronic childhood disease, experienced 
by more than one-fourth of United States children 
aged 2–5 years and half of those aged 12–15 years. 
About half of all children and two-thirds of adoles-
cents aged 12–19 years from lower-income families 
have had decay. According to the American Academy 
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of Pediatric Dentistry, children who frequently or 
excessively consume beverages high in sugar are at 
increased risk for dental caries. Untreated dental 
caries can lead to pain, infection, tooth loss, and in 
severe cases, even death. It can slow normal growth 
and development by restricting nutritional intake. 
Children who are missing teeth may have chewing 
problems that limit their food choices and result in 
nutritionally inadequate diets. 
(b) PURPOSES.—It is the intent of the Congress, by 
adopting the Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Tax Act (also 
known as the SWEET Act), to diminish the human and 
economic costs of diabetes, obesity, dental caries, and 
other diet-related health conditions. This Act is intended 
to discourage excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened 
beverages by increasing the price of these products and 
by creating a dedicated revenue source for programs and 
research designed to reduce the human and economic costs 
of diabetes, obesity, dental caries, and other diet-related 
health conditions in priority populations. 
SEC. 3. EXCISE TAX ON CERTAIN SUGAR-SWEETENED BEV-
ERAGES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter D of chapter 32 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 
after part I the following new part: 
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‘‘(i) contains a caloric sweetener, and 
‘‘(ii) is intended for use as an ingre-
dient in a liquid described in subparagraph 
(A). 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The following shall not be 
treated as liquids described in paragraph (1)(A): 
‘‘(A) Any liquid the primary ingredients of 
which are milk or soy, rice, or similar plant- 
based milk substitute. 
‘‘(B) Any liquid composed entirely of one 
or more of the following: 
‘‘(i) The original liquid resulting from 
the pressing of fruit or vegetables. 
‘‘(ii) The liquid resulting from the re-
constitution of fruit or vegetable juice con-
centrate. 
‘‘(iii) The liquid resulting from the 
restoration of water to dehydrated fruit or 
vegetable juice. 
‘‘(C) Infant formula. 
‘‘(D) Any liquid products manufactured for 
use as— 
‘‘(i) an oral nutritional therapy for 
persons who cannot absorb or metabolize 
dietary nutrients from food or beverages, 
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‘‘(ii) a source of necessary nutrition 
used due to a medical condition, or 
‘‘(iii) an oral electrolyte solution for 
infants and children formulated to prevent 
dehydration due to illness. 
‘‘(E) Any liquid with respect to which tax 
is imposed under chapter 51 (relating to dis-
tilled spirits, wines, and beer) or under section 
7652 by reason of the tax imposed under chap-
ter 51 being imposed on like articles of domes-
tic manufacture. 
‘‘(b) CALORIC SWEETENER.—For purposes of this 
part, the term ‘caloric sweetener’ means monosaccharides, 
disaccharides, and high-fructose corn syrup. 
‘‘SEC. 4173. SPECIAL RULES. 
‘‘(a) SWEETENER TAXED ONLY ONCE.—In the case 
of any specified sugar-sweetened beverage product which 
is manufactured or produced by including one or more 
other specified sugar-sweetened beverage products, no tax 
shall be imposed under this section on any caloric sweet-
ener contained in the resulting specified sugar-sweetened 
beverage product if tax was previously imposed under this 
section on such caloric sweetener when contained in the 
specified sugar-sweetened beverage product so included. 
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‘‘(b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—In the case of any 
sale after December 31, 2015, the one cent amount in sec-
tion 4171(b) shall be increased by an amount equal to— 
‘‘(1) such amount, multiplied by 
‘‘(2) the cost-of-living adjustment determined 
under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which 
such sale occurs, determined by substituting ‘cal-
endar year 2014’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in sub-
paragraph (B) thereof. 
Any increase determined under this subsection shall be 
rounded to the nearest multiple of one-tenth of a cent.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 4221(a) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: ‘‘Paragraphs (1), (4), (5), and 
(6) shall not apply to the tax imposed under section 
4171.’’. 
(2) The table of parts for subchapter D of 
chapter 32 of such Code is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to part I the following new 
item: 
‘‘PART II—SUGAR-SWEETENED BEVERAGES’’. 
(c) REVENUES USED
FOR PREVENTION, TREAT-
MENT, AND RESEARCH OF DIET-RELATED HEALTH CON-
DITIONS IN PRIORITY POPULATIONS.— 
(1) TRANSFER
TO
PREVENTION
AND
PUBLIC 
HEALTH FUND.—There are hereby appropriated to 
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the Prevention and Public Health Fund created 
under section 4002 of the Patient Protection and 
Affordable Care Act (in addition to any other 
amounts appropriated to such Fund) amounts equiv-
alent to taxes received in the Treasury under part 
II of subchapter D of chapter 32. Rules similar to 
the rules of section 9601 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 shall apply with respect to amounts 
appropriated under this paragraph. 
(2) RESTRICTION
ON
USE
OF
FUNDS.—Not-
withstanding subsections (c) and (d) of section 4002 
of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 
amounts appropriated to the Prevention and Public 
Health Fund under paragraph (1) may be trans-
ferred to accounts in the Department of Health and 
Human Services only for the purpose of making ex-
penditures for programs and research designed to 
reduce the human and economic costs of diabetes, 
obesity, dental caries, and other diet-related health 
conditions in priority populations (within the mean-
ing of section 901(c) of the Public Health Service 
Act). 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the amendments made by this section 
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shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
(2) EXCISE TAX.—The amendments made by 
subsections (a) and (b) shall apply to sales after the 
date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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