Indian-American stores, Coca-Cola against soft drink tax

Indian American owners of convenience stores have joined hands with the Coca-Cola company and the American Beverage Association against the proposed Federal soft drink taxes of an extra one-cent an ounce.
    
A decision in this regard was taken at the Sixth Annual National Convention of Asian American Convenience Store Owners Association (AACSA) held in Tampa, Florida, over the weekend.
    
"AACSA is forming an alliance with Coca-Cola Company and American Beverage Association to fight against the proposed Federal soft drink taxes of an extra one-cent an ounce to raise $156 billion dollars over six years," said the association president Satya Shaw.
    
Formed in 2005 in the wake of the infamous meth-case wherein nearly 50 Indian-Americans were arrested by the US police for alleged illegal selling of meth from their convenience stores, the AACSA is now the largest national representative body of the convenience stores owners of the US.
    
It is estimated that there are nearly 150,000 convenience stores in the US, about 80,000 of which are owned by Indian- -Americans alone.