New Yorkers, hold on to your straws. It looks like supersized sugary drinks aren’t banned quite yet.
An appeals court ruled against Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban — or “portion control” — of large sugary beverages on Tuesday, saying that the New York City Board of Health exceeded its legal authority and acted unconstitutionally by attempting to put a limit on the size of beverages served in restaurants and venues throughout the city.
The loopholes in the law — which would exempt certain businesses that didn’t fall under the reach of the city’s health department, such as grocery and convenience stores — were a big factor in the court’s unanimous ruling.
“The selective restrictions enacted by the Board of Health reveal that the health of the residents of New York City was not its sole concern,” Justice Dianne Renwick wrote for the court. “If it were, the ‘Soda Ban’ would apply to all public and private enterprises in New York City.”
This wasn’t the first time Bloomberg’s pop prohibition was struck down by the courts. In March, the state’s Supreme Court blocked the ban the day before it was scheduled to go into effect, calling it too “arbitrary.”
Bloomberg, obviously, was less than pleased that his diabolical plan to keep sugar-loving New Yorkers from getting their fix was once again struck down.
“Today’s decision is a temporary setback, and we plan to appeal this decision as we continue the fight against the obesity epidemic,” he said in a statement.
It seems that in his quest to banish sugary beverages from his city, Bloomberg may have overlooked the fact that a majority of Americans would vote against a law that restricts the size of sugary drinks, according to a June Gallup poll.
Bloomberg only has a few months left in office, but he plans to use his remaining days to ignore the opposition and work diligently to fight obesity in New York City. The ‘Nanny State’ mayor has unleashed a plethora of other healthy initiatives during his time in office, from encouraging architects to design buildings with more staircases to hiding cigarettes in stores.
