Soda Ban

By now I am sure most of you have heard about Mayor Bloomberg's proposed ban to limit the amount of sugary beverages sold in New York City. It prohibits the sale of these types of drinks larger than 16 ounces. By sugary, they mean sodas, iced tea, and energy drinks, but it does not include diet sodas, fruit juices, milk-based beverages, or alcoholic beverages. This ban would take place at movie theaters, restaurants, sports arenas, and fast food chains.

This proposed ban has been the source of a lot of debate over the past couple weeks. Many see this as one step too far and that we should have the right to drink whatever size drink that we want. In reality, there are ways around this. No one is stopping you from buying more than one drink if you really wanted to. I think the important thing here is not that it is taking away our rights, but that it is making consumers more conscious of their drink purchases.

Soda has been a big target in recent years when talking about the causes of obesity and this is another plan to combat it. It is the largest source of empty calories you can consume, having no real nutritional benefit at all. It has many adverse health effects and is a big contributor to the obesity epidemic. This ban is another step in the right direction. Of course if you want to continue drinking a lot of soda, this is not going to necessarily stop you. Although, it will hopefully make people think twice about what they drink and help to limit consumption in at least some people.