Just last week, we here at Sip & Savor blogged about the high praise activists are heaping on the Berkeley soda tax, but according to an article by the Contra Costa Times, real people having to live with the tax are not so happy.

Soda taxes are deeply unpopular with the public. Americans don’t like prices raised artificially on common grocery items like beverages, polls by both the Associated Press and Harris Interactive bear that out. Now even in pro-tax Berkeley the tax is starting to wear thin.

In the article, local business owners are expressing frustration at Berkeley’s penny-per-ounce tax. Mohammed Assad, owner of St. Helena Wine and Liquors, is quoted saying “It really has affected our business… I think the city is trying to push out the small businesses. Here we are, losing business. Waiting for another hit. I don't know what's next."

Other business owners note angry customers and customers who choose not to buy anything once they see the tax tacked on to the price of the beverage.

We’ve shared on the blog before how soda taxes are job killers and don’t do anything to improve public health – maybe public officials will heed the words of small business owners in their backyards.