New York
Mayor Michael Bloomberg intends to restrict sales of sugary soft drinks to no
more than 16 ounces a cup in city restaurants, movie theaters, stadiums and
arenas, administration officials said.
The Health
Department plans to propose the ban as an amendment to the Health Code at a
June 12 meeting of the Board of Health, according to Samantha Levine, a mayoral
spokeswoman.
The move to
ban super-sized sugared soft drinks, first reported in the New York Times
yesterday, is the latest of several anti-obesity and nutrition initiatives
undertaken by the administration. It is among strategies to combat what the
administration has described as an epidemic of obesity and related illnesses
such as heart disease and diabetes.
“Obesity is
a nationwide problem, and all over the U.S., public health officials are
wringing their hands saying, ‘Oh, this is terrible,”’ the Times quoted
Bloomberg saying in an interview. “New York City is not about wringing your
hands; it’s about doing something. I think that’s what the public wants the
mayor to do.”
In 2008,
the city required restaurant chains to post calorie-counts of their menu items.
In 2006 and 2007, the Board of Health and City Council banned artery-clogging
trans-fats from restaurants and prepared foods. Last year, the federal
government rejected an attempt to bar purchases of sugared drinks with food
stamps. In 2003, Bloomberg blocked the beverages from vending machines in
schools and city-owned buildings.
Once the
proposal has been introduced, the health board will vote on it after three
months of public comment, Levine said. No other authorization from the state or
city would be required. Restaurants and other outlets would have six months
from the date of adoption to comply or face citations, she said.
The mayor
is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
To contact
the reporter on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net
To contact
the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at
smerelman@bloomberg.net
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