UPDATE: Bloomberg’s Sugar Soda Ban Sails Through NYC Board Of Health

By on September 16, 2012 11:50 am in Brooklyn Heights, Food, Health, News

As expected, the New York City Board of Health has approved a ban on the sale of sugar sodas in containers larger than 16 ounces at restaurants, street carts, movie theaters and arenas, the first such restriction in the nation. The measure was championed by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a means to fight obesity.

Opposition at a packed room hearing in late July included testimony from Brooklyn Borough president Marty Markowitz. New Yorkers for Beverage Choices also organized a citywide protest, including ads posted on signage at Brooklyn Heights’ Regal/United Artists movie theater.

The Board of Health—whose 11 members are all appointed by Bloomberg—approved the measure with an 8 to 0 vote, with one abstention. The New York Times notes that one member was absent from Thursday’s hearing and another retired from the board this summer. The ban is scheduled to take effect March 12. Read more here. (Image: Boing Boing)

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  • David on Middagh

    Good, said the skinny guy.

  • hicksanthrope

    Nobody will complain here because we are all rich.

  • Wiley E.

    All voting members were appointees. Of course it was unanimous.

  • Kenn Lowy

    The next time you come by the Brooklyn Heights Cinema check out our small size soda. It is exactly 16 oz. Then imagine that as the large size at Regal.

  • j

    Oh no, fat people will now have to buy 2-liter bottles and stick a straw in it if they want to overindulge themselves into a pre-diabetic coma. It’s the end of the world!

  • HenryLoL

    Woo-hoo!

  • http://n/a Barbara Shernoff

    Boo Bloomberg!! He should concentrate on important issues, like the NYC school system, which he has been a real foe of!!

  • Boerum Bill

    Shizzle will hit the fan when he messes with my forty!

  • BH’er

    Trifecta:
    1. No smoking in bars = huge success
    2. No Trans-fats = aggregate health is indisputably improved
    3. 16oz limit on cup size => diabetes just got a little bit harder to get

    It’s a free country – you can still suck down a liter-a-cola, if you want, but you can’t say we didn’t warn you. Your insulin and glucometer will now be on your own dime.

    This is a great victory, no matter what the beverage industry has to say. Nothing says you can’t suck down 84oz in a sitting if you don’t mind buying two servings, but mark it down – this will help a lot of people get healthier – no diet required.

  • BH’er

    or however many servings it takes to get to 84oz or however much you want to drink – this is not a limit to your personal liberty, just a speed bump to emphasize just how unhealthy your choices are

    But, congratulations on fighting for your right to be stupid about your own health (and becoming a burden to the public health)