Soda Not Yet Illegal In NYC
Well, at least for the moment, it is still legal to sell giant sodas in NYC. A judge has struck down Bloomberg’s proposed law, though mainly on the ground that the law intruded on City Council authority. Some places in NYC are still selling big sodas, but others have already switched to smaller cups for sugar sodas on the chance that Bloomberg wins on appeal. Really, I’m only interested in this because of how bizarre it is.
I mean, I recognize that obesity is a problem in the United States. I’ve seen the stats. I spent a good number of years around 30-40 pounds overweight myself. However, I balk at legislating health. I know some people may need help, but I just don’t go for a paternalistic view of government. Frankly, I’d rather have to protect myself from sugar sodas than have someone make me not have them.
And, really, will this ban go far enough to justify the intrusion into people’s lives anyway? I’m sure some think it will, but it only covers some kinds of drinks at some kinds of places. Given the mega load of calories and fat available in fast, frozen, and other kinds of food commonly consumed in the United States, I’m just wondering if soda size is enough to do a huge amount.
Mind you, soda is not insignificant. According to this site, a 1.3 L (44 oz) fountain Mountain Dew has 624 calories. If you’re supposed to have 2000 calories per day, that’s about a fourth of your food for the day. It’s actually more than two McDonald’s cheeseburgers (300 each). Still, if you reduce soda and still eat four big macs at a single meal (550 calories each, or 2100 calories total), you still aren’t going to end up doing real well.
The whole thing just seems weird, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a while to see where this ends up anyway. The City Council could just sign off on the ban (unlikely, since this is unpopular) and then the current court challenge would drop off anyway.
In any event, I only care so much. I drink diet anyway (and will probably have all kinds of health problems due to artificial sweeteners, I know).
