Periodically, the idea of a “soda tax” floats to the surface buoyed by the assertion that it will help curb obesity. But the arguments often fall apart when people start to compare different foods they think are more healthy than a 16 ounce bottle of Coca Cola.

The Wall Street Journal Health Blog contains this statement, pointing out a common fallacy:

But if you look at the prices with the hypothetical sugar taxes added ($2.02 for the two-liter bottle and $4.64 for a 12-pack using Sicher’s numbers) and compare them with the price of a half gallon (1.89 liters) of 100% orange juice, which the Health Blog is lucky to buy on sale for $3.50 at her local grocery store, it would still be far cheaper to buy soda.

From this statement, you would believe drinking 16 ounces of orange juice would be healthier than 16 ounces of Coca Cola. If you surveyed people, they would probably say overwhelmingly that orange juice is healthier than soda.

To be fair, the point of the statement is that even with an extra tax, soda would still be cheaper that what we consider to be healthier alternatives. While this tax masquerades as an attempt to improve American’s health like other “sin taxes”, it is simply a way to extract more money from the populace for whatever government program is being considered. Like all “sin taxes” those engaging in the “sin” oppose it while those who never indulge in that particular “sin” support it. But neither position is based on “health”.

“Unsweetened” orange juice has 3.75 grams of sugar per ounce, while Coca Cola has 3.25 grams. Orange juice, even given its paltry nutrients, is not a good substitute for Coca Cola. Orange juice provides even more sugar ounce for ounce. Sure, you get your daily value of vitamin C and small amounts of calcium and vitamin A, but you also get the bad effects of all that sugar.

Orange juice used to be served in small, 3 or 4 ounce glasses. These “juice glasses” have all but disappeared from the American cupboard, and the standard 12 or 16 ounce glass is the one most people reach for, and the drinks they put in it are most likely going to contain from 40 to 60 grams of sugar.

The portion of sugar our body retains either gets used immediately for energy or stored as fat. If you aren’t running a marathon, drinking 50 grams of sugar is going to add to your fat stores.

For perspective, imagine that instead of reaching for that glass full of orange juice you pull out a teaspoon and scoop up regular table sugar. And eat it. And then you dip the spoon in the sugar again, and eat another teaspoon. And then another. And another. After you have eaten 12 and a half teaspoons of table sugar you have almost the amount of sugar in the 16 ounces of orange juice.

Now, let’s talk about potatoes …

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