Thursday, 31 May 2012

City looks to ban large, sugary drinks in obesity fight

AP  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK -- If Mayor Michael Bloomberg has his way, New York City could have the toughest anti-soda laws in the country. Big, sugary drinks would be illegal.

The proposed first-in-the-nation ban would impose a 16-ounce limit on the size of sweetened drinks sold at restaurants, movie theaters, sports venues and street carts. It would apply to bottled drinks as well as fountain sodas.

The ban, which could take effect as soon as March, would not apply to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy-based drinks or alcoholic beverages. Nor would it include drinks sold in grocery or convenience stores. Food establishments that don't downsize would face fines of $200.

Bloomberg said Wednesday that he "thinks it's what the public wants the mayor to do."

A spokesman for the New York City Beverage Association, Stefan Friedman, criticized the proposal as "zealous." He said officials should seek solutions that are actually going to curb obesity.

"There they go again," the Association said in a statement. "The New York City Health Department's unhealthy obsession with attacking soft drinks is again pushing them over the top. The city is not going to address the obesity issue by attacking soda, because soda is not driving the obesity rates."

The proposal requires the approval of the city's Board of Health, which is considered likely because its members are all appointed by Bloomberg.

Under the three-term mayor, the city has campaigned aggressively against obesity, including outlawing trans-fats in restaurant food and forcing chain restaurants to post calorie counts on menus.

The Bloomberg administration has tried other ways to make soda consumption less appealing. The mayor supported a state tax on sodas, but the measure died in Albany, and he tried to restrict the use of food stamps to buy sodas, an idea federal regulars rejected.

City Hall's latest proposal does not require outside approval, although public hearings will be held.

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new york city, obesity, michael bloomberg, new york news

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