Glen Silver – VIN News
New York, NY – When Mayor Bloomberg’s ban on sugary beverages exceeding 16-ounces goes into effect on Tuesday, city restaurant inspectors will now be armed with new, city-issued cups specifically designed for the intiative.
A New York Daily News exclusive today reveals that Health Department officials say the new cups will aid inspectors in enforcing the new law, which will now become part of routine restaurant inspections throughout the city.
The new cup—-a solid, measuring cup-style mug capable of holding 17 fluid ounces—-was unveiled recently in the procedural details listed by city officials in an affidavit filed as part of an ongoing legal challenge to the new ban.
“The measuring cups that we will be issuing…will be able to contain 17 fluid ounces,” said Deputy Health Commissioner David Kass.
Kass further explained that inspectors are being instructed to cite violators only when the cup “clearly exceeds” 16 ounces “when measured in the inspector’s measuring cup.”
The new ban, proposed last May and subsequently approved by the Bloomberg-appointed Board of Health in September, is the latest in the series of “quality of life” initiatives promised by the mayor when taking office.
“Sugary beverages are a leading driver of the obesity epidemic that is killing more than 5,000 New Yorkers annually,” said Bloomberg spokeswoman Samantha Levine.
“Our bold initiative—-which will preserve health and save lives—-has already changed the national dialogue about obesity and sugary drinks,” said Levine.
Despite Deputy Commissioner Kass’ explanation that the 17 ounce cup provides a “margin of error” for restaurant owners, critics of the ban remain unconvinced.
Matthew Greller, a lobbyist for the National Association of Theatre Owners, a group actively fighting the new ban, said, “Will they deploy sugar sniffing dogs to detect the amount of calories from sugar?”
“Can someone please call Jerry Seinfeld and request a reunion show just on this ridiculousness?” quipped Greller.
A spokesman for the American Beverage Association, Christopher Gindlesperger, said, “The ban is arbitrary and impacts businesses as well as consumers. So there’s a 1-ounce margin of error. I think there’s a lot of confusion.”
All city establishments, including concession stands at movie theaters, arenas, and ballparks, are covered under the new ban. Also, no longer will family-sized bottles of sugary drinks be allowable as part of pizzeria deliveries.
Exemptions include convenience stores like 7-Eleven, vending machines, and isolated newsstands, along with fruit juices, milkshakes, and alcoholic beverages.
Health Department spokeswoman, Veronica Lewin, said inspectors have been trained and are ready to go with the drink-size inspections. She noted that all city establishments receive inspection letter grades from the Health Department, and that the frequency of inspections fluctuate according to the grade.
the reason why he is banning the drinks are because of diabeties he says that people are getting obese and they wind up in the hospital and the city does not have any money to pay for it.
Today’s parsha states “And all honey shall not be sacrificed as a fire offering to G-d.” Rashi comments ‘that all’ means to include all sweetness from fruits are called honey. This it would seem parallels the opinion of the judge that banning only sweet soda is capricious.
There is no ban on consuming gross amounts of sugar. The ban is on the delivery mechanism. You have the liberty to order your sickening drinks in two cups instead of one. Your freedom is completely unaffected. But it’s still severely unhealthy.
What about banning everything with a lot of sugar? How about candy?
Banning only soda is “arbitrary”, and not fair rule making.
Keeping our justice system safe will save more lives then making people eat healthy.
first of all i totally agree with #3
this guy still has no control cuz if u really wanted more u can buy a second cup
and second of all i totally agree with the Pepsi trucks that say “don’t let bureaucrats tell you what size beverage to drink” and why dosent he ban triple burgers in mcdonalds
The law was halted today by a judge.
A NYC judge overturned the law a few hours ago. Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow it may be banned.
Maybe go and study on what communism is as a form of government before displaying your lack of knowledge in such.
If you don’t like it, move to NJ, and that’s what freedom is my friend.
This is your health!
I totally agree with you 100%
umm i would call this communism perhaps
i totally understand that it’s not healthy and no one should put that much disgustingness in their body, and i most definitely try to avoid soda when i can, but how can you tell us what we can and can’t drink? this is extremely ABSURD.
unless i’m missing something here?