NYC Board of Health Passes ‘Soda Ban’

[XLF Reporter]

The New York City Board of Health on Thursday approved Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s controversial proposal to ban the sale of large sugary drinks in restaurants and other venues, a sweeping initiative that backers hope will reduce obesity and critics decry as government run amok.

Beginning March 12, the city will prohibit restaurants, mobile food carts, delis and concessions at movie theaters, stadiums or arenas from selling sugary drinks in cups or containers larger than 16 ounces. The city will begin fining sellers for violating the ban in mid-June.

The proposal passed by a vote of eight to zero, with one abstention, one absence and one vacancy on the board. Dr. Thomas Farley, the board’s chairman, called the vote “historic.”

Opponents said they are exploring all possible paths to prevent the new ban from taking effect next year, including the possibility of a legal challenge. Recent polls show a majority of city voters oppose the initiative.

Opponents have complained that the deck was stacked against them because every member of the board is appointed by the mayor. Adding to that perception, before the board voted, the administration delivered a 20-minute presentation rebutting the critics’ points.

Full Article: WSJ

 

[Kevin]

Shocking how much of the US is turning in a society that thinks those in charge need to protect us from ourselves. If NY wants to reduce unhealthy food choices then they should work on educating kids & parents, not spending time & money on ridiculous restrictions that are impossible to enforce.

 

[Big Dan]

Shocking how much of the US is turning in a society that thinks those in charge need to protect us from ourselves. If NY wants to reduce unhealthy food choices then they should work on educating kids & parents, not spending time & money on ridiculous restrictions that are impossible to enforce.

+1 this exactly. You cannot fix stupid by restricting things like that -- educate them. NYC has Cut The Junk, a pretty cool anti-obesity program which I like and fully support but you cannot legislate this problem away through short sided laws.

 

[Kevin]

... and the first lawsuit has arrived. Maybe it is just me but I think there is a big difference between regulating milk inspections, lead paint, and the size of a cup.

Soda makers, restaurateurs and other businesses sued Friday to try to block the city's unprecedented move to restrict sales of super-sized, sugary drinks, an effort the city called a coup for public health but the industry views as unfair and undemocratic.

"For the first time, they're telling New Yorkers how much of certain safe and lawful beverages they can drink," said Caroline Starke, a spokeswoman for the business groups, whose complaint also faults the city for making the decision through an unelected board. The groups include the American Beverage Association, the National Restaurant Association, a soft drink workers union and groups representing interests ranging from movie theater owners to Korean-American grocers.
...
The soda makers and sellers say the city is being a nanny-like nag to consumers and imposing an unfair, uneven burden on businesses. Manufacturers will have to get new bottles, and eateries will lose sales to competitors that aren't covered by the rule, they say. A customer who couldn't buy a 20-ounce soda at a pizzeria would be able to get a Big Gulp at a 7-Eleven, for instance, as convenience stores are under different regulations.
...
It also says the Bloomberg-appointed health board shouldn't dictate the size of soft drinks. Ten City Council members signed onto a July measure calling on the health board not to approve the rule; a New York Times poll in August showed that six in 10 New Yorkers opposed it.

The city says the board, made up of physicians and other health experts, is exactly the panel to make such decisions. It has held sway over matters ranging from milk inspection in the 1870s to banning lead paint in 1960, the city notes.

Full Article

 

[Kevin]

Some major chains such as Starbucks had been refusing to preemptively change their offerings nor bear the expense of changing the menus at all of their NYC locations. Turns out they made the right call as a NY State Supreme Court judge has blocked the ban and going as far as calling it “fraught with arbitrary and capricious” consequences.

The New York Times writes that the judge had harsh words for both the Bloomberg self-appointed NY Board of Health.

In his ruling, Justice Tingling concurred with much of the beverage industry’s legal arguments. He said the Board of Health, which is appointed by the mayor, had overreached in approving the plan, and wrote that the City Council was the only legislative body with the power to approve such a far-reaching initiative.

The administration, Justice Tingling wrote, had interpreted the board’s powers broadly enough to “create an administrative Leviathan,” capable of enacting any rules and “limited only by its own imagination.”

The judge also criticized the rules themselves, noting they would apply only to certain sugared drinks — dairy-based beverages like milkshakes, for instance, would be exempt — and be enforced only in certain establishments, like restaurants and delis, but not others, like convenience stores and bodegas. The rules, the judge wrote, would create “uneven enforcement, even within a particular city block, much less the city as a whole.”

Bloomberg has vowed to appeal the ruling.

The ruling is available for viewing online at Scribd.
Judge Tingling Invalidates NYC Soda Ban