New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity, according to The New York Times. The proposal does not include vending machines. For the full story, click here.
Editor’s Insight: While this proposal does not, at present, impact the vending industry, vending operators need to keep abreast of it since the affected industries are going to seek to change this proposal.
The mayor has made obesity a signature issue, and no one should fault him for this. However, he has not followed much guidance in coming up with any plans that will actually change people’s consumption habits. His track record to date has been poor; a widely publicized soda tax failed, as did a plan to outlaw the use of food stamps for buying soda.
His lack of forethought is reflected in his comment that restaurants can simply raise prices on their smaller servings if they lose money from not being allowed to sell larger size servings. That doesn’t show much empathy for the cash-strapped consumer. 05-31-12 By Elliot Maras
