Several Bay Area lawmakers are joining other legislators in the state in introducing a package of bills to curb consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks.
The measures include bans on super-sized fountain drinks, promotional coupons and soda placement at checkout counters.
San Francisco Assemblyman David Chu says sugary drinks are creating a public health crisis of obesity and chronic disease.
"The soda industry is the new tobacco industry," he said in a press conference Wednesday announcing the proposals. "This is an industry that has used marketing and sales tactics to victimize low-income communities."
One of four California adults is now obese, Chiu said, a 40 percent increase over two decades. More than half of Californians are overweight and more than half have either diabetes or pre-diabetes. The average American drinks nearly 50 gallons (190 liters) of sugary beverages a year, he said, consuming 39 pounds (17.5 kilograms) of extra sugar. Chiu is proposing a cap on unsealed sugary drink containers at stores like 7-Eleven to no more than 16 ounces.
Another bill would ban soda discount coupons that Assemblyman Rob Bonta of Oakland said can result in "soda actually being cheaper than bottled water." His bill would ban such coupons. Oakland Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks wants to ban markets and convenience stores from displaying the beverages near the checkout counter.
The proposals include a fee on sugary beverages that would take a two-thirds vote to approve. Health groups are also circulating petitions to put a tax of 2 cents per ounce on the 2020 ballot.
Several measures have failed repeatedly in previous years, including the tax proposed by Assemblyman Richard Bloom of Santa Monica. He said details of his proposal are still being worked out, but a 2 cents per ounce tax would raise a projected $2 billion annually for prevention efforts.
The beverage industry says such a tax would fall harder on those with lower incomes and would have uncertain health benefits.
California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Julian Canete criticized the package on behalf of the beverage industry, saying that soda makers have already done much to discourage over-consumption. He promoted better health education over a tax.
The American Beverage Association said it is engaged in an "unprecedented commitment to fight obesity" by offering more choices and smaller portion sizes with less sugar or no sugar. Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for the group, said blaming obesity on soda alone does not make sense and lawmakers should be looking at the bigger picture.
"If you look at the science, calories from added sugars consumed from beverages are going down, yet obesity is going up," he said. "So how can soda and sugar-sweetened beverages actually be a unique or a significant contributor to obesity? Those numbers just don't add up."
He said the industry wants to make sure food and beverages remain affordable – and is committed to working with the legislature to address public health concerns. Last year, the group successfully lobbied for a bill, which was eventually signed into law by then-Governor Jerry Brown, to temporarily ban cities from passing soda taxes through 2030. The law was a way to stop a statewide ballot measure pushed by the beverage industry that would have made it difficult for cities to raise taxes in the future.
KQED's Peter Jon Shuler and the Associated Press contributed to this report.