Mere hours before it was to take effect, a judge reversed the proposed ban on the sale of jumbo sized soft drinks in New York. Wonder who paid him to “permanently” stop Mayor Bloomberg’s much-touted ban on drink sizes greater than 480ml in cinemas, sports stadiums and other public places. Never mind who paid the judge, whose interests could possibly be served by a soft drink size that openly boasts 64 ozs. (that’s 2 litres or close to 1/2 US gallon), 800 calories and almost 1/2 lb. (224g) of sugar?
Certainly none of the 6000 NY residents who die every year from complications of obesity or those suffering from diabetes - now estimated to be 1 in 8 New Yorkers!
But the good Mayor Bloomberg is undeterred by a small set-back, unfazed by claims that he is running a “nanny state.” During his 11 years in office his successful initiatives include obligatory posts of calorie counts in fast-food restaurants, bans on the use of artificial trans-fats and reduction in salt levels. NYC has successfully outlawed smoking in bars and offices, promotes breast-feeding over infant formula and last week, the Bloomberg administration announced a campaign to warn young people they risk hearing loss from cranked-up earphones. NYC is no stranger to defending its health-promotion measures in court either. But this time Bloomberg believes that the tide of public opinion is already turning and that voluntary adoption of his soft-drink initiative is underway.
"We are confident that we will win that (appeal), but while the legal case plays out, the conversation we started about the dangers of the portion sizes of sugary drinks has prompted many people ... to take action," he said. A few hours later, the city filed formal notice of its plan to appeal.
May the force be with you Michael Bloomberg!
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