The city’s Board of Health has approved Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to ban super sized sugary drinks.
The plan was approved in a vote Thursday with eight in favor and one abstention.
The new regulation puts a 16-ounce limit on sugary drinks sold at city restaurants, movie theaters, sports venues and street carts and apply to both bottled and fountain drinks.
It does not include grocery or convenience stores that don’t serve prepared food and would not apply to diet soda, other calorie-free drinks or anything that has at least 50 percent milk or milk substitute.
Bloomberg has said the proposed ban is a way to fight obesity in New York City. He said health-related problems stemming from obesity cost the city about $4 billion a year.
“It’s time to face the facts: obesity is one of America’s most deadly problems and sugary beverages are a leading cause of it,” Bloomberg said earlier this month. “As the size of sugary drinks has grown, so have our waistlines – and so have diabetes and heart disease.”
But opponents have said the city is overstepping its bounds and infringing on personal freedom.
“Restrictions and bans will do nothing to address the very complex issue of obesity and New Yorkers are smart enough to make their own decisions about what they eat and drink,” New Yorkers for Beverage Choices spokesman Eliot Hoff said earlier this month.
A series of public hearings were held about the proposal prior to Thursday’s vote.
The rules are expected to go into effect by next March.
Good development?
[CBSNewYork]
0 comments:
Post a Comment