Bucket blacklist: New York set to ban super-sized soft drinks

June 1, 2012
The Age

New York food outlets would be forced to restrict the size of cups in which they dispense fizzy drinks to a maximum of 16 fluid ounces, or a little under 500ml.

In his crusade for public health, the mayor of New York has taken on transfats, smoking, calorie-labelling and alcohol. Now Michael Bloomberg has revealed a new target, proposing a ban on the sale of large-sized high-calorie drinks in restaurants, cinemas and other public outlets.

Bloomberg’s plan will confirm him in the eyes of libertarians and the hugely powerful food lobby as ‘‘nanny-in-chief’’, but health experts hailed it as a necessary move in the battle to curb a growing obesity epidemic that affects more than half of adult New Yorkers.

Under the proposal, all food outlets regulated by the city authorities – including restaurants, street carts, delis, cinemas and sports arenas – would be forced to restrict the size of cups in which they dispense fizzy drinks to a maximum of 16 fluid ounces, or a little under 500ml.

This would abolish the large and super-sized containers that can extend to almost two litres in fast-food outlets. The restriction would apply to all drinks that contain more than 25 calories per eight fluid ounces, which includes full-calorie versions of Coke, Pepsi and other popular fizzy drinks. It would not catch diet colas or milk-based drinks.

Bloomberg will put the plan in front of the city’s Board of Health – a body that he hand picks, so opposition is unlikely – on 12 June. There will be a three-month public consultation, followed by probable imposition in March next year. In November 2013, any outlet that failed to abide by the new rules would face fines of $200.

‘‘Everybody recognises obesity as a growing, serious problem,’’ Bloomberg told the New York Post. ‘‘But I think it’s fair to say that, while everyone else is sitting around complaining, New York city is acting.’’

Since he assumed office in 2002, Bloomberg has made it his business to try to raise health standards in New York city. He has been at the vanguard of a succession of health drives, many of which have then been copied across the US and in other parts of the world. For instance, the city banned transfats in food in December 2006, a move that helped persuade most major retailers in the UK to begin adopting voluntary reductions of their own. Similarly, the city’s imposition of calorie labelling in fast-food outlets has echoes in the UK’s voluntary scheme introduced in 2011.

Obesity has become a growing preoccupation of the mayor. It is estimated that 40% of New York’s public school students are obese or overweight, and it is predicted that 42% of the total US population will be obese by 2030 if current rates continue.

The city has responded to the crisis by removing fizzy drinks from public schools and by initiating a billboard advertising campaign warning of the perils of obesity-related type 2 diabetes. However, an attempt to prevent poorer families using food stamps to buy fizzy drinks was recently blocked by the federal government.

‘‘The obesity epidemic is a crisis of the first order, and we have been dithering for far too long,’’ said David Katz, a health scientist at Yale and editor of the journal Child Obesity.

Among the disasters that have been linked to the epidemic is a dramatic increase in the rate of strokes in children aged five to 14. Evidence is also mounting as to the substantial role that sugary drinks are playing in stoking the epidemic.

The mayor’s office points to the fact that, since 1955, the average size of drinks containers at McDonald’s has increased by 457%. Michael Jacobson, head of the health advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, welcomed New York’s plans as a move that would be emulated across the US: ‘‘Over the last 10 years it has become clear that soft drinks are a major cause of obesity, and public officials are playing catch-up by introducing policies to reduce consumption,’’ he said.

Early reaction from New Yorkers was mixed. Anna Pirgousis, 23, a diner manager near Union Square in Manhattan, said she thought the 16-ounce upper limit was perfect. ‘‘You don’t need to drink sizes larger than that.’’

But Jerry Blair, a student at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, was unimpressed with the proposed ban: ‘‘I think that’s ridiculous,’’ he said. ‘‘Stopping people from eating or drinking something wouldn’t mean they’ll actively lose weight.’’

Bloomberg can expect a hurricane-force backlash from fizzy-drink manufacturers and their lobbyists. Already, the New York City Beverage Association has denounced the proposals as an ‘‘unhealthy obsession’’ and a ‘‘distraction’’.
– The Guardian

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