Super-size is still an option for New Yorkers as Justice Milton A. Tingling Jr. of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan put the kibosh to the city’s limits on large sugary drinks. According to The New York Times, the judge called the limits “arbitrary and capricious” at the hearing on Monday.
Bloomberg is hoping that NYC will pave the way for cities all around the world to adopt the ban.
Why? Everyone should have a why and the mayor’s why is obesity. It’s a pretty convincing reason and his campaign has gained worldwide attention. “I’ve got to defend my children, and yours, and do what’s right to save lives,” the mayor said. “Obesity kills. There’s no question it kills.”
The mayor made it clear that he would be appealing the judge's ruling immediately. Lawyers for the Bloomberg administration said on Monday that it remained confident due to the fact that the Board of Health had “the legal authority and responsibility” to address obesity in the city.
Soda giants were compelled to shell out some big bucks to combat the ban that Mayor Bloomberg is determined to bring to life before he leaves office. CNN reports that the American soft-drink industry invested a multimillion-dollar campaign to block it which included flying banners from airplanes over Coney Island, plastering subway stations with advertisements and most importantly, filing the lawsuit that led to the ruling.
Restaurants throughout the city have been preparing for the ban to take true form. Dunkin Donuts has already instructed employees that they are not allowed to add sugar to large coffees. It would be interesting to see how each restaurant adheres to such a ban since there are so many types of businesses.
The ban would limit the size of sugary drinks to 16 ounces at restaurants, theaters and food carts. Does this mean that you’ll have to order two from now on? That’s not going to help the landfills at all.
How about enforcing the ban? Seriously? Don’t most cities have enough to govern? Can New York afford to hire “Sugar Nazis?”
If the mayor gets his last wish before exiting, will this really make a significant impact on obesity? Even if you take away the enforcement issues, adults and children can go into a store and purchase as much sugary drinks as they want and consume as much in a day as they wish.
What about a war on cigarettes? There are still plenty of kids out there who are getting hooked on smoking long before they’re eighteen years of age. Isn’t that a huge problem? The list is long and sugary drinks seem a little silly compared to other problems.
So, what’s next after this? Limits on how many ounces of juice people can have? Some juices have more sugar than sodas. "I'm sorry sir. I'm only allowed to serve you 16 ounces of apple juice." Now that sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?
Like anything else, people need to be educated about health and most believe that they have the right to make their own decisions from there.
In a pro-choice society, suddenly a politician is going to dictate how much soda we can have?
It certainly appears that the mayor is trying to make it into the history books. However, you would think that needless legislation coupled with an enormous waste of money is a very odd way to go about it.
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