At a Board of Health meeting last month, several members zeroed in on the most obvious problem with Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to shrink New Yorkers’ waistlines by shrinking their soft drink servings: It does not go far enough.
One member questioned the exception for milk-based beverages such as shakes, which “have monstrous amounts of calories.” Another noted that the carveout for convenience stores, supermarkets and vending machines (which are not regulated by the city’s Health Department) means 7-Eleven’s Big Gulp — the epitome of effervescent excess — will remain available. There also was murmuring about the continued legality of free refills, which will let people drink as much soda as they want, provided they do it 16 ounces at a time.
But one glaring gap in Bloomberg’s big beverage ban went unprobed: Why limit the limit to soft drinks? What about the hard stuff?
Consider: Under Bloomberg’s plan, a 20-ounce serving of Coke, which contains an appalling 240 calories, will be forbidden in every one of the city’s bars and restaurants. But add two shots of rum, raising the calorie count to about 440, and you transform that contraband Coke into a legal Cuba Libre. From a public health perspective, this makes no sense, especially since the alcohol adds not only calories but also myriad hazards unrelated to obesity.
Read more at New York Daily News
