NY mayor wants to eliminate more food choices in the war on Obesity

[Removed #1]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/31/nyregion/bloomberg-plans-a-ban-on-large-sugared-drinks.html

That's right...people make bad food choices...so lets take them away...unless it involves ice cream, alcohol or juice. Theaters seem to be in support of this...OF COURSE THEY ARE...with some of the most expensive beverages you can buy and a restriction prohibiting outside food anything that has you spending more is a plus for them.

New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity.

The proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of popular sugary drinks found in delis, fast-food franchises and even sports arenas, from energy drinks to pre-sweetened iced teas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces — about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle — would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March.

The measure would not apply to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy-based drinks like milkshakes, or alcoholic beverages; it would not extend to beverages sold in grocery or convenience stores.

“Obesity is a nationwide problem, and all over the United States, public health officials are wringing their hands saying, ‘Oh, this is terrible,’ ” Mr. Bloomberg said in an interview on Wednesday in the Governor’s Room at City Hall.

“New York City is not about wringing your hands; it’s about doing something,” he said. “I think that’s what the public wants the mayor to do.”

A spokesman for the New York City Beverage Association, an arm of the soda industry’s national trade group, criticized the city’s proposal on Wednesday. The industry has clashed repeatedly with the city’s health department, saying it has unfairly singled out soda; industry groups have bought subway advertisements promoting their cause.

“The New York City health department’s unhealthy obsession with attacking soft drinks is again pushing them over the top,” the industry spokesman, Stefan Friedman, said. “It’s time for serious health professionals to move on and seek solutions that are going to actually curb obesity. These zealous proposals just distract from the hard work that needs to be done on this front.”

Mr. Bloomberg’s proposal requires the approval of the Board of Health, a step that is considered likely because the members are all appointed by him, and the board’s chairman is the city’s health commissioner, who joined the mayor in supporting the measure on Wednesday.

Mr. Bloomberg has made public health one of the top priorities of his lengthy tenure, and has championed a series of aggressive regulations, including bans on smoking in restaurants and parks, a prohibition against artificial trans fat in restaurant food and a requirement for health inspection grades to be posted in restaurant windows.

The measures have led to occasional derision of the mayor as Nanny Bloomberg, by those who view the restrictions as infringements on personal freedom. But many of the measures adopted in New York have become models for other cities, including restrictions on smoking and trans fats, as well as the use of graphic advertising to combat smoking and soda consumption, and the demand that chain restaurants post calorie contents next to prices.

In recent years, soda has emerged as a battleground in efforts to counter obesity. Across the nation, some school districts have banned the sale of soda in schools, and some cities have banned the sale of soda in public buildings.

In New York City, where more than half of adults are obese or overweight, Dr. Thomas Farley, the health commissioner, blames sweetened drinks for up to half of the increase in city obesity rates over the last 30 years. About a third of New Yorkers drink one or more sugary drinks a day, according to the city. Dr. Farley said the city had seen higher obesity rates in neighborhoods where soda consumption was more common.

The ban would not apply to drinks with fewer than 25 calories per 8-ounce serving, like zero-calorie Vitamin Waters and unsweetened iced teas, as well as diet sodas.

Restaurants, delis, movie theater and ballpark concessions would be affected, because they are regulated by the health department. Carts on sidewalks and in Central Park would also be included, but not vending machines or newsstands that serve only a smattering of fresh food items.

At fast-food chains, where sodas are often dispersed at self-serve fountains, restaurants would be required to hand out cup sizes of 16 ounces or less, regardless of whether a customer opts for a diet drink. But free refills — and additional drink purchases — would be allowed.

Corner stores and bodegas would be affected if they are defined by the city as “food service establishments.” Those stores can most easily be identified by the health department letter grades they are required to display in their windows.

The mayor, who said he occasionally drank a diet soda “on a hot day,” contested the idea that the plan would limit consumers’ choices, saying the option to buy more soda would always be available.

“Your argument, I guess, could be that it’s a little less convenient to have to carry two 16-ounce drinks to your seat in the movie theater rather than one 32 ounce,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a sarcastic tone. “I don’t think you can make the case that we’re taking things away.”

He also said he foresaw no adverse effect on local businesses, and he suggested that restaurants could simply charge more for smaller drinks if their sales were to drop.

The Bloomberg administration had made previous, unsuccessful efforts 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, but the idea was rejected by federal regulators.

With the new proposal, City Hall is now trying to see how much it can accomplish without requiring outside approval. Mayoral aides say they are confident that they have the legal authority to restrict soda sales, based on the city’s jurisdiction over local eating establishments, the same oversight that allows for the health department’s letter-grade cleanliness rating system for restaurants.

In interviews at the AMC Loews Village, in the East Village in Manhattan, some filmgoers said restricting large soda sales made sense to them.

“I think it’s a good idea,” said Sara Gochenauer, 21, a personal assistant from the Upper West Side. Soda, she said, “rots your teeth.”

But others said consumers should be free to choose.

“If people want to drink 24 ounces, it’s their decision,” said Zara Atal, 20, a college student from the Upper East Side.

Lawrence Goins, 50, a postal worker who lives in Newark, took a more pragmatic approach.

“Some of those movies are three, three and a half hours long,” Mr. Goins said. “You got to quench your thirst.”

[Rosemary]

Crazy - with so much else going on it such a big city, surely there are more pressing items on his agenda.

He also said he foresaw no adverse effect on local businesses, and he suggested that restaurants could simply charge more for smaller drinks if their sales were to drop.

[Austinville]

Only in America.

The fools can't balance a budget, though they intend to 'balance the scales' for the rest of the city.........sheeeeez.

[Marc]

So let me get this right... If I go to New York I will not be able to drink a 1 litre coke, but I will be able to drink a 1 litre full fat milkshake? Am I missing something? LOL

[Austinville]

[MENTION=1]Marc[/MENTION] ---- Yes, you are. American politics. It's ok. We don't understand them either!

Milkshakes are good for you, they contain dairy products (and just a wee bit of sugar!) LMAO

[Mollys Dad]

People will just buy lots of small drinks

[Marc]

@Marc ---- Yes, you are. American politics. It's ok. We don't understand them either!

Milkshakes are good for you, they contain dairy products (and just a wee bit of sugar!) LMAO

Ohhhhhhh now I see.... So if something is a dairy product and doesnt have much sugar in it, but has a lot of fat then that obviously wont affect obesity at all!! Now I understand LOL

Good to see you lot have as mental a government as us then LOL

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Let's not forget the alcohol...you can still buy a giant tub of booze and pop in a cup!!!!

*L*

Here's todays update:

(Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg offered a full-throated defense of his proposed ban on large-size sugary sodas on Friday, calling criticism of the proposal "ridiculous" and saying his city is again leading the way in taking on critical health issues.

"I look across this country, and people are obese, and everybody wrings their hands, and nobody's willing to do something about it," Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show.

"I would criticize the federal government for not doing anything," the health-conscious Bloomberg added on WOR radio's John Gambling show. "I would criticize the state governments for not doing anything, but in the end, it's the cities that do things."

On Wednesday, Bloomberg proposed a far-reaching ban on sugary sodas larger than 16 ounces (about half a liter) in most restaurants, theaters, delis and vending carts throughout the city. It could take effect as early as next March, city officials have said.

The move against soft drinks is the latest in a string of public health initiatives promoted by the mayor.

During his three terms in office the city has banned smoking in bars, restaurants and public places, banned artificial trans fats in restaurant food, and required calorie counts to be posted at fast-food outlets. Bloomberg also leads a campaign to cut salt in restaurant meals and packaged foods.

The soda measure will be introduced on June 12 at a New York City Board of Health meeting. The board is expected to pass the mayor's measure, following a three-month public comment period.

BIG SODA COMPANIES OBJECT

Bloomberg said that the proposal was aimed towards the city's poorer residents who may not have a sophisticated understanding of nutrition. He insisted that the measure is not targeted towards big soda companies like PepsiCo and Coca-Cola.

"There's nothing wrong with the products from PepsiCo and Coca-Cola," the former-business-leader-turned-mayor said. "They are responsible companies. They are making stuff that people want to buy. This is not targeted towards those companies. This is targeted the consumer."

Coca-Cola, the world's largest soft-drink maker, assailed the proposal in a statement on Thursday.

"New Yorkers expect and deserve better than this,'' the Coca-Cola statement said. "They can make their own choices about beverages they purchase."

Meanwhile, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, told The New York Post on

Thursday that he was considering state legislation to thwart the measure.

"We may be getting too close to Big Brother," Silver told the newspaper. "I just think we ought to step back and look at the freedoms that we have been given in this country and reflect on them."

On Friday, Bloomberg said he expected New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, to back his plan. Asked about Silver's threat, Bloomberg crisply responded that "I don't think that's going to happen.

"I assume the governor is going to veto it."

Bloomberg went on to compare controversy over the proposal to his 2002 ban on smoking in bars and restaurants.

"You think this was bad?" Bloomberg asked. With the smoking ban, "everybody was opposed to it. today, virtually every major city in America does it ... whole countries!

"If people are yelling and screaming, there's nothing you can do about that. I mean, this is ridiculous."

Bloomberg, now an independent but a Republican from 2001 to 2007 and before that a Democrat, called obesity "the single biggest public health issue in the country.''

"It's the first disease that's gone from being a rich person's disease to a poor person's disease,'' he continued. "Look at the pictures of the old robber barons with their big stomachs out in the '20s. They were proud that they were fat. They all died young, but they were proud until that. Today it is poor people who are dying much more. And the numbers are just off the charts."

"Nobody is taking away any of your rights," Bloomberg said later in the broadcast. "This way, we're just telling you ‘That's a lot of soda.'"

[racerx780]

That is crazy... not surprising... just crazy.

If people don't want to be overweight, all the information is available on how to eat healthy. This is not something that the govt should have a say in.

I might have a can or two of soda during the week.... I drink mostly water. But that's my choice... And I don't think you can compare it to smoking at all. The bans on smoking in public were for 2nd hand smoke and non-smokers... Drinking a 32oz soda has no negative impact on someone at the table next to you.

[Removed #1]

That is crazy... not surprising... just crazy.

If people don't want to be overweight, all the information is available on how to eat healthy. This is not something that the govt should have a say in.

I might have a can or two of soda during the week.... I drink mostly water. But that's my choice... And I don't think you can compare it to smoking at all. The bans on smoking in public were for 2nd hand smoke and non-smokers... Drinking a 32oz soda has no negative impact on someone at the table next to you.

Of course it does...a visual one. I don't go to bars or the like but when I lived on the west coast I can't tell you how many times I saw a 300lb woman wearing something made of spandex meant for a 130lb woman.