Coke Femsa, Bimbo fall as Mexico poised to pass food, drink taxes

By Elinor Comlay MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Shares of Mexico's food and drink companies fell on Thursday as Congress was poised to approve a 1 peso-per-liter tax on sugary drinks and an 8 percent tax on junk food as part of a wider tax overhaul. The Senate approved the plan, which aims to curb rising obesity levels as well as lift the poor tax take in Latin America's No. 2 economy, on Thursday morning, before sending the bill back to the lower house of Congress for final approval, expected later in the day. Shares of Mexico-based Coca-Cola Femsa, Coke's largest bottler in Latin America, were down more than 1 percent, while shares in bread and snacks maker Bimbo fell more than 2 percent in morning trading. Mexico, where obesity rates are now higher than in the United States, will be the first major soda market to tax high-calorie sodas, following a handful of other Latin American and European countries.



via Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo.com/coke-femsa-bimbo-fall-mexico-poised-pass-food-183117720--sector.html