New York City’s big beverage ban, named by the residents “portion cap,” is endured just for one day.
The unpopular measure of Major Bloomberg was interrupted on 11th March with New York Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling, who agreed with the consortium of industry groups that had banned together to petition against the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s code, which planned to limit the sale of sugary beverages to containers no larger than sixteen ounces (0,47 Lt.)
New York Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling issued a permanent injunction preventing the city from implementing the plan.
In his 36-page opinion Judge Tingling wrote:
“It (the portion cap rule) is arbitrary and capricious because it applies to some but not all food establishments in the city, it excludes other beverages that have significantly higher concentrations of sugar sweeteners and/or calories on specific grounds and the loopholes inherent in the rule, including but not limited to no limitations on refills, defeat and/or serve to gut the purpose of the rule.”
NYC Health Commissioner Thomas Farley says:
“Without a portion cap on sugary drinks, it would be harder to tackle an obesity epidemic that kills more New Yorkers than anything other than smoking and causes misery for many thousands more who suffer from heart disease, diabetes and other debilitating illnesses. Sugary drinks are a leading cause of this epidemic. Today’s decision threatens the health of New Yorkers, but we are confident that we will win on appeal.”
The obesity is a real problem in US, and here in Europe we can’t even imagine the NYC big beverages and the “all you can drink menus”.
The City Council decree was for sure a good contrast measure, but it’s indubitable that it was also an unacceptable restriction of economic and individual liberty.
The ban wasn’t unpopular just with businesses. A recent poll found that 51% of New York City residents, were opposed to the new regulation.
Major Bloomberg confirmed that the City Council will appeal this ruling.
Related articles
- Bloomberg ‘confident’ NYC will win appeal on sugary drink ban – NBCNews.com (nbcnews.com)
- New York City soda ban struck down by judge in eleventh-hour ruling (guardian.co.uk)
- Judge blocks NYC soda ban from going into effect (redalertpolitics.com)
- Bloomberg vows to fight reversal of NYC soda ban (givemeliberty01.com)
- New York City Files Notice of Appeal Over Soda Size Case – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
- SODA RULE FIZZLES: NYC Sugary Drink Ban Put on Ice by Judge (foxnews.com)
- Judge blocks NYC’s ban on super-sized sugary drinks (cbsnews.com)
FOOD LAW LATEST 