We can all celebrate today with any large sugary drink of our choosing, as New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg s ban on a wide swath of sweetened beverages was blocked by Justice Milton A. Tingling Jr. of State Supreme Court in Manhattan. He called the ban arbitrary and capricious, citing the fact that the ban only applied to some drinks in certain food establishments. Judge Tingling also doubted the authority of the NYC Board of Health to make such a ruling against a legal product even though he well knew, as did we all, that the board was merely acting as the mayor s rubber stamp.
The Bloomberg administration is planning to appeal the decision, saying that the Board of Health has the legal authority and responsibility to tackle the causes of obesity. The mayor put on a full-court press after the ruling, both immediately and later on the David Letterman Late Night show, vowing to get the ban re-instituted on appeal. His approach was at all times focused on the severity of the obesity problem in our country.
But he begged the question as to whether his bizarre and unenforceable regulation would in fact have any impact on obesity, which seemed to be a key oversight, said ACSH s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. The government can intrude in people s lives if there is overarching scientific evidence supporting a positive benefit examples include seatbelts and mandatory vaccines but this is based on agenda and propaganda and makes absolutely no sense.
ACSH s Dr. Ruth Kava adds The fact that sweetened drinks over 16 oz. were to be banned only in some, but not all, outlets would completely vitiate any effectiveness it might have. The only benefit of this ban would be bringing to people s attention the number of calories in very large sweetened beverages and that s already been accomplished.
Predictably, says ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom, the mayor vowed to appeal the ruling which will only succeed in making him even *less* appealing than he already is to the vast majority of New Yorkers.