Mayor Bloomberg s ban on the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces, scheduled to go into effect in March, will not take hold if the beverage and restaurant industries have their way. They urged a New York City judge to block the ban, calling it an unconstitutional overreach that burdens small businesses and infringes upon personal liberty.
The city defends this ban as a reasonable measure to combat the obesity problem, but minority organizations such as the NAACP, support the blocking of this ban, their position being that it will adversely affect small and minority businesses. And although they do acknowledge that obesity disproportionately affects African Americans in New York City, they urge the city to create a more holistic program to attack the problem, including an increase in financing for physical education programs in public schools.
James Brandt, a lawyer for the American Beverage Association, describes the irony of this regulation saying, You ll be able to go into a 7-Eleven and buy the biggest Big Gulp you want, but you re not able to go to a Sabrett hot dog stand and buy a 20-ounce Coke or Pepsi. And he brings up a question on many people s minds: What comes next? Red meat twice a week but no more?
ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom says that This is what happens when you implement a stupid, poorly thought-out law. Not only does it do no good, but ancillary issues like unfair advantages to certain businesses, and racial disparities pop up.
ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross adds his own take. Although we at ACSH do not have expertise in discrimination law nor the knowledge to predict if one group will suffer more economic harm than another group, we do know that there is no evidence to suggest that restriction on sales of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces will have any influence on obesity rates. In fact, it has been shown that the obesity rates have been declining and this is without these regulations. If Mayor Bloomberg is so concerned about public health, he should think about doing something effective, such as promoting mandatory flu vaccinations for healthcare workers as ACSH has suggested, and perhaps restoring funding for school physical education programs which his Education Department has savaged for budgetary reasons.
