Not satisfied with demonizing soda, the New York City Health Department has announced that even more categories of beverages sports drinks, energy drinks, sweetened teas, and fruit-flavored drinks are bad for health because of their sugar content.
In its press release, the DOH warns that such drinks may contain more sugar than a typical soft drink and might lead to obesity and diabetes. It is launching a series of bus and subway ads portraying the calorie and sugar content of various sweetened drinks.
In addition, they note that while the sales of sodas and similar carbonated beverages have fallen in recent years, those of non-carbonated sweetened beverages have risen. One might question whether the latter statistic might have something to do with the campaign to paint sodas as complicit in the American obesity epidemic.
While we have nothing against giving the public accurate nutrition information, we are leery of blaming any particular type of food or beverage for the obesity problem.
ACSH s Dr. Ruth Kava adds At least thus far, Mayor Bloomberg isn t trying to control the portion sizes of these drinks although that doesn t mean he won t do so down the road.
