# NY Health Dept ready to start enforcing the Sugary drink limit. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560 "2013-03-10T19:22:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/21 "2013-03-11T01:01:38Z")
I agree with **monstro** \*\*\*\*. It does seem nanny-state-ish, but obesity is a serious public health problem and NYC has been engaging in a number of initiatives to combat it. There are ads all over the place encouraging a healthy diet, exercise, programs to educate people about nutrition, etc. One ad on the subways shows a map of New York and the distance you’d have to walk to burn off all the calories from a giant smoothie (according to the ad it’s from somewhere out in Queens to the middle of Manhattan). At the bottom of this [CDC article](http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/causes/index.html) is the economic cost (from 2008) of obesity. While this law may be a little over the top, from looking at those numbers it’s understandable why a local government would take as much action as they’re legally allowed to to reduce that. And apparently Bloomberg’s legally allowed to restrict drink sizes in an attempt to encourage healthy choices. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/22 "2013-03-11T01:10:13Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > > [@aceplace57](#): > > > > The really big Super size drinks are kind of ridiculous. I think they hold 32 or even 40 oz? But, government has no place in interfering with what a private business serves. imho > > Do you think government should allow a private business to serve alcohol to anyone? Presumably **aceplace57** is in favor of removing the prohibition against sales of alcohol in Arkansas and elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/23 "2013-03-11T02:41:45Z")
I mentioned alcohol restrictions and the ABC up above. Consuming alcohol in public places like restaurants is a special case. They need to keep a family atmosphere and there is the concern of drunk driving or even drunk walking afterwards. CNN has a interesting podcast on the NY sugary drink restrictions. It’s already costing money in new glasses and retraining staff. [http://cnnradio.cnn.com/2013/03/08/prepping-for-nycs-ban-on-large-sugary-drinks/](http://cnnradio.cnn.com/2013/03/08/prepping-for-nycs-ban-on-large-sugary-drinks/) > [@](#): > > Eric Levine and his family own ten Dallas BBQ restaurants throughout the city. Twenty ounce drinks are popular items on the menu. > > ``` > [3:17] “It could cost us tens of thousands of dollars for replacing glassware in ten restaurants. We’re not a chain; we’re a family run business. We’re not a large corporation. So it will take effect and we’ll absorb the cost and try not to trickle it down to our customers,” said Levine. > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/24 "2013-03-11T03:16:31Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Do you think government should allow a private business to serve alcohol to anyone? > > If I decided to sell brownies laced with arsenic, should the government stop me? Or should the decision be left to the unsuspecting or self-delusional consumer? > > Sugar does not have the same toxicity as either alcohol or arsenic, but it nonetheless seems to be causing our public healthiness to plummet. Not just in terms of obesity, but also cancer, diabetes, and possibly other disorders. > > If the government was completely divorced from public health, then maybe it could be argued that they’re overstepping their bounds. But government has a vested interest in making sure society doesn’t become comprised of a bunch of arthritic, demented, diabetics with congestive heart failure and riddled with cancer. At the basest level, these folks can’t work, can’t afford taxes, and can’t afford their own health care. Why should the government pay for the ill-effects of sugar but not exert its powers to regulate it? > > I don’t know if this law is a good one, but it’s a step in the right direction. HIV is a massive public health issue that has caused billions in public spending and has taken countless lives. The City of New York has a compelling interest in banning sodomy. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/25 "2013-03-11T04:22:57Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > HIV is a massive public health issue that has caused billions in public spending and has taken countless lives. The City of New York has a compelling interest in banning sodomy. I don’t think that’s a reasonable comparison, especially since sugary drinks aren’t outright banned. The City of New York actually does have campaigns to raise awareness of AIDs, remove the stigma, provide free testing, free condoms, assistance with treatment, and so on. Nothing is being banned in this instance, but I’d say what the city does in terms of AIDs awareness is actually comparable to what they’re doing for obesity awareness. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/26 "2013-03-11T04:41:23Z")
What about requiring the use of condoms for all anal sex? ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/27 "2013-03-11T04:49:13Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > What about requiring the use of condoms for all anal sex? That’s banning unprotected sex. Sugary drinks are not banned. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/28 "2013-03-11T05:14:28Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > So can you still buy a 48 oz Super Big Gulp cup if it is filled with DIET soda? Can the pizza guy deliver a 2 liter bottle of soda that has no sugar? Yes. And 100% juice for whatever reason. At least it does target the sugar, albeit inconsistently. The schools in my community decided to stop selling pop a few years ago. They went after the carbonation rather than the sugar. You can’t buy Diet Mountain Dew in a school vending machine but you can buy sugary [del]flat pop[/del] “fruit” drinks. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/29 "2013-03-11T05:41:41Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > If the government was completely divorced from public health, then maybe it could be argued that they’re overstepping their bounds. But government has a vested interest in making sure society doesn’t become comprised of a bunch of arthritic, demented, diabetics with congestive heart failure and riddled with cancer. At the basest level, these folks can’t work, can’t afford taxes, and can’t afford their own health care. Why should the government pay for the ill-effects of sugar but not exert its powers to regulate it? This is the reason I preferred that government stay out of health care. It has begun. First NYC then the People’s Republic of California then the rest of the country will be infected with these sorts of laws. Finally, all power to regulate everything we do will simply be dictated by the glorious leader in DC, whomever that may be (otherwise it will cost too much, you see). Anyone who thinks we live in a regulatory nightmare now will be thinking back to these days as when we lived in a libertarian paradise. Fuck you, Mike Bloomberg, fuck you. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/30 "2013-03-11T05:53:44Z")
Thomas Jefferson would be so proud. Land of the free, my bloody arsehole!!! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/31 "2013-03-11T06:01:52Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Thomas Jefferson would be so proud. Land of the free, my bloody arsehole!!! Yes, and then he’d go rape one of his slaves to get his mind off the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/32 "2013-03-11T06:29:00Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The really big Super size drinks are kind of ridiculous. I think they hold 32 or even 40 oz? But, government has no place in interfering with what a private business serves. imho Damn right. I’d like to take this opportunity to solicit investors for my new chain of theme restaurants: Crack-fil-A. ---
**Author:** ![JerseySwamps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@JerseySwamps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseySwamps)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/33 "2013-03-11T06:42:44Z")
I know people are using the term Big Gulp generally, but because 7-11 isn’t a restaurant, these restrictions don’t apply to them. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/34 "2013-03-11T06:52:56Z")
aceplace57: > [@](#): > > The really big Super size drinks are kind of ridiculous. I think they hold 32 or even 40 oz? They’re a godsend if you’re about to embark on a long drive. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/35 "2013-03-11T14:45:49Z")
> [@JerseySwamps](#): > > I know people are using the term Big Gulp generally, but because 7-11 isn’t a restaurant, these restrictions don’t apply to them. Then why would they apply to Dunkin Donuts? Or movie theaters? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/36 "2013-03-11T15:05:26Z")
I am only disappointed that it applies to dunkin donuts, too. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/37 "2013-03-11T16:45:57Z")
**Monstro** makes some serious and valid points that those who sneer at this rarely address. If I’m going to have to pay for your medical treatment (the situation today if you don’t have insurance, or, to a lesser extend, even if you have), then it’s in my best interest for you to be kept healthy. There’s also science behind this: people will buy whatever size drink (or other food) is available. If the large is 16 ounces, most people will be happy with that. If the large is 24 ounces, then people will drink all that, too. Yes, people can order two drinks, but most will take what’s offered and thus get fewer calories. Restaurants in the US serve portions that are far too big. Cutting them down had two major advantages: fewer calories and the restaurant can charge less for an entree (or, from their POV, make more money from one). But big portions are what Americans like, and no restaurant is going to succeed if they don’t give you too much (there are some exceptions now – Applebee’s has some nice small entrees – but far too few). But since I can end up paying for the results of your own bad habits, I – though the government – should have some say in preventing them. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/38 "2013-03-11T16:55:53Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > But since I can end up paying for the results of your own bad habits, I – though the government – should have some say in preventing them. That’s not a slippery slope. That’s a fucking cliff. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/39 "2013-03-11T18:59:08Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **Monstro** makes some serious and valid points that those who sneer at this rarely address. If I’m going to have to pay for your medical treatment (the situation today if you don’t have insurance, or, to a lesser extend, even if you have), then it’s in my best interest for you to be kept healthy. Do you have any citations that it actually increases health costs? This is an argument often drug out in regards to smoking, despite it being shown smokers actually end up costing less due to the fact they die earlier. Wouldn’t be surprised if this is a similar case. But besides that, there are thousands of things the government could be doing to make us healthier. Should they? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560/40 "2013-03-11T19:55:04Z")
> [@DJ\_Motorbike](#): > > This is the reason I preferred that government stay out of health care. Well, since we’re talking about local government – cities & counties – that ship sailed when city- or county-owned public hospitals of last resort for the poor were established. Which for New York City was [in 1736](http://www.nyc.gov/html/hhc/bellevue/html/about/history.shtml). :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-health-dept-ready-to-start-enforcing-the-sugary-drink-limit/652560.md?page=3)