Susan Neely prefers to focus on industry's plan to combat obesity by promoting lighter beverages, rather than rare election-day loss Neely The American Beverage Association's remarkable run of blocking local soda taxes came to an end Nov. 4 in Berkeley, Calif. But is this city of 117,000 people, known for its liberal propensities, an outlier or a trendsetter? ABA CEO Susan Neely puts the results squarely in the former camp, saying the rest of America won't follow Berkeley's lead. She says the industry is more focused on its recent pledge to help cut beverage calories consumed per person by 20 percent by 2025. Still, the association led a $2 million attack against… Read More