Bloomberg To Propose Ban on Soft Drinks in New York City

Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York will propose a ban on the sale of large sugary drinks in the city's restaurants, delis, sports venues, street carts, and movie theaters in the hopes of combating obesity. The move represents an expansion of his administration's efforts to encourage healthy behavior by limiting residents' choices.

The proposal is expected to be announced formally on Thursday in a City Hall briefing and could take effect as soon as next March. According to the Wall Street Journal, under the proposal restaurants and other establishments would be prohibited from selling sugary drinks in cups or containers that are more than 16 fluid ounces. Self-service cups would also be disallowed from containing more than 16 fluid ounces. The proposal would ultimately take 20-ounce soda bottles off the shelves of the city's delis and eliminate super-sized sugary soft drinks from fast-food menus. According to the Seattle Times, establishments that fail to downsize would face fines of $200 after a three-month grace period.

The proposal defines a sugary drink as any beverage sweetened with sugar or another caloric sweetener that contains more than 25 calories per eight fluid ounces and contains less than 51% milk or milk substitute by volume as an ingredient.

The ban would not apply to drinks sold in grocery or convenience stores that do not serve prepared food. Diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy-based drinks or alcoholic beverages are also not applicable.

City Hall officials, citing a 2006 study, argue that sugary drinks are the largest driver of rising calorie consumption and obesity. They note that sweet drinks correlate to long-term weight gain and increased rates of diabetes and heart disease. The administration also cited statistics stating that more than half of city adults, or 58%, are overweight or obese and nearly 40% of city public-school students in eighth grade or below are obese or overweight.

The proposal requires the approval of the city's Board of Health, but is not seen as a major obstacle because all of its members are appointed by Bloomberg.

Under the three-term mayor, the city has campaigned aggressively against obesity, outlawing trans-fats in restaurant food and forcing chain restaurants to post calorie counts on menus. Starting in 2002, the mayor has also led efforts to ban smoking in the city's bars, restaurants, parks and beaches.

Bloomberg's administration has already tried other ways to make soda consumption less appealing. The mayor supported a state tax on sodas, but Albany rejected it. When he tried to restrict the use of food stamps to buy sodas, the federal regulators shut down his proposal.