EPA/JUSTIN LANE
A woman holds a large soda on a street in New York City. Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to implement a ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts. The law is another effort by the administration to fight obesity.
Better take a big gulp, Big Apple soda junkies.
The day after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed that local restaurants and food carts be banned from selling the biggest sizes of soft drinks and other sugary beverages, the overflow of reaction has ranged from sweet celebration to frothy anger.
Health experts largely praised the move to stop sales of sugared drinks served in containers of more than 16 fluid ounces.
"I actually support the ban," said Joy Bauer, registered dietitian and health expert for NBC's TODAY (and a New York resident). "It’s a good compromise because the law wouldn’t completely take away these sugary drinks, but it limits portions and forces people to think twice before drinking more -- by buying a second beverage. I think Bloomberg and the NYC Department of Health are acting in the public’s best interest, even though some may view it as inappropriate and an invasion of personal choice."
Her support for public health was echoed by New Yorker Alicia Gay, who works near the city's financial district:
"When I heard the news, I felt like Etta James -- 'At Last,' " said Gay, 32. "People have long applauded the mayor's decision to ban smoking in public. And, as a former smoker, I kept thinking: Why is smoking the only costly, life-threatening behavior being punished when obesity represents a health epidemic in this country? It's crazy that parents can buy their kids these drinks with hundreds of calories with zero regard for the health implications and the potential impact that can have."
Bloomberg himself said the proposed soda ban is aimed at trimming the city's widening waistlines:
“Obesity is the only major health problem in New York City that is getting worse,” reads a statement posted Thursday on Bloomberg’s personal website, MikeBloomberg.com.
But coming in the backwash of Bloomberg’s other municipal health crackdowns -- namely public-smoking suppressions and calorie count postings at chain restaurants -- some New Yorkers and even some obesity fighters say the mayor’s anti-soda push exceeds what city governments are designed to do.
“I consider myself to be fit and healthy, and I love large sodas!” said Christopher Potter, 48, a mortgage broker who lives and works in New York. His favorite is regular Pepsi and he downs at least one 16-ounce soda per day.
“I go to the gym daily (and) run. I’m not fat. I think this proposed ban is a huge infringement on my rights. I always get the large soda at the movies and drink what I like," Potter said.
If the idea is approved by New York’s Board of Health, the law would take effect six months later -- perhaps as soon as next March. The pop prohibition would include sports venues, fast-food franchises and movie theaters. Violators would face $200 fines. Diet sodas, milkshakes and alcoholic libations would not fall under the restriction. Grocery and convenience stores would be exempt.
Truly, this already is a bubbly topic in New York. Even on “Seinfeld,” which was based in that same city, character George Costanza passionately urged his friends to name their new child “Soda.”
"Bans are an unfair as they treat everyone the same with a 'one-size-fits-all approach,'" said, Hank Cardello, a former Coca-Cola executive. Today, he heads the obesity solutions initiative at the Hudson Institute, nonpartisan, Washington, D.C., policy research organization that promotes global security, prosperity and freedom.
Cardello cited research by the Hudson Institute that shows 25 percent to 30 percent of American consumers pursue healthy lifestyles. "Bluntly, bans are unfair to them as they act responsibly and do not contribute to the $150 billion annual cost of obesity," he said.
"What’s needed now is an incentive for food and beverage companies to more aggressively lower the number of calories they sell," Cardello added. "Given the trillions of beverage calories sold each year, an incentive for lowering a company’s 'calorie footprint' by 2 to 3 percent would go a long way to pulling excess calories off the streets. This can be achieved by providing an extra 10 percent tax deduction to those companies achieving this goal."
Indeed, two years ago, Harvard scientists found that taxing soda, albeit in a different way, does cut consumption. When researchers placed a temporary, penny-per-ounce tax on soft drinks sold at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, sales fell by 26 percent.
Via his own website, however, Bloomberg cited separate studies that “have shown what common sense already tells us: When larger portions are in front of people, they simply consume more, often without recognizing it.” In one study, he said, people who were were given sugary drink portion sizes 50 percent larger drank 20 percent to 33 percent more, without reducing their food intake.
The potential soda crackdown is encouraging to groups that have long lobbied against the soda scourge. The American Heart Association, for instance, urges Americans to sip no more than 450 calories of sugar-sweetened beverages -- or fewer than three 12-ounce cans of carbonated soda -- per week.
But like residents of the Big Apple, even the AHA needs more details, said Julie Del Barto, a spokeswoman for the group.
"The American Heart Association is very concerned with the rising rates of obesity," she said in a statement. "We look forward to reviewing Mayor Bloomberg's specific proposal, which we understand won't be available until the June 12th hearing."
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