Speaking of being in limbo, retailers in Cook County, Illinois are between the proverbial rock and the hard place as relates the county imposed tax on sugary drinks. As we advised last week, the FDA has said that collecting the tax and then giving it back as a refund violates the federal food stamp program regulations on purchases made with food stamps and further that the tax cannot be charged on food stamp purchases. The county claims to have resolved the issue with the federal government by striking the refund component, the feds are silent in that regard and retailers are being dragged into court for trying to comply with the ill-conceived county money grab! Subway, Walgreens, 7-Eleven and Circle-K are among a host of retailers who’ve been sued for collecting the tax and complying with the county mandate. More and more members of the Illinois legislature are expressing their concern over the soda tax and filing legislation to prohibit the imposition of soda taxes in the state. And while all of this is happening, shopping customers are fleeing Cook County to purchase their sugary drinks in surrounding counties!