Discussion Board

Seriously? This is how we get to the root cause of a problem, by laying down a ban on drinks larger than 16 oz.? You can read the story here.

It doesn't apply to diet soda or milkshakes. Because, you know, milkshakes aren't fattening, and diet soda is health food.

Or fried foods like KFC and French fries, or cheeseburgers or 12 oz. sirloins or hot dogs or a host of other things that are bad to eat. People will still continue to chow down on those things. Even if they never drink another soft drink in their lives, they can still be unhealthy.

No, but they do put calorie counts on everything. I thought that was pretty cool when I was in NY over the weekend. I wish more restaurant items had that here.

Wow. I almost don't know how to process that. It's scary its come to that. Dang.

While on the one end, it does have a fascist feel to it but on the other end, things like banning smoking and trans fats have helped decrease consumption of such things. I know where I live a lot less people smoke nowadays due to the ban on smoking in many areas. However, I do know that the diet thing is more tricky because people can still screw up in countless other ways beyond getting a large sugary drink.

Well, as weird as it may be to have to do that, it can only do more good than harm for public health. It certainly can't make things worse.

No, but it's certainly a start. If we don't do something because it doesn't solve the problem entirely we will never solve anything. I'm going to reference this study again because people don't realize what an impact size makes, even when we are 100% positive it doesn't, it really does. There is absolutely no reason to drink soda, so it's an easy one to do something about. I'm impressed and applaud these efforts. Eventually if we keep cracking away at it we will get somewhere.

I had to laugh, a sad ironic laugh, about sweetened coffees over 16oz being banned but lattes were okay... I don't know if we will ever get the milk out, but at least we now have so many other options besides cow's.

I wouldn't go that far... you can still drink 64oz, you just have to get more servings and that's recognizing how we work so that we are better able to act according to our own desires, needs, wishes. Of course the sugary drinks in general manage to bypass a lot of natural self regulations so arguably they should be banned all together but it still takes an action to get them, overdrinking happens without any effort on our part so we do need help with that. But of course if we really want to have more we still can.

I dunno. Something as heavy handed as this really has a Big Brother feel to it that could turn people off to other more important attempts or messages to get people healthy in the future. Besides, the messaging is all wrong because it implies that diet soda is A-OK, which it certainly is not.

BTW, the inclusion of soda drinks, but the exemption of, say, milkshakes just smacks of political favoritism and raises more questions about the influence of various food lobbyists on government action.

My solution:Tax sugar just like cigarettes and alcohol.

Lets say 2 cents a gram tax. A 12 oz Coke is about 40 grams of sugar/HFCS so the tax would be $.80. A 20 oz with 65 grams would tax at $1.30. Want a liter big gulp at 110 grams of sugar, add $2.20 tax. That would slow people down. And I wouldn't limit it to soda. Everything that had refined sugar/HFCS/Fructose/Lactose/etc, would have the same tax. So juice, sugar in sauces, baked goods, candy, all the hidden sugars in our food, tax it all.

First, this would get consumers attention. Second, it would get the food industries attention too, they would find ways to get the sugar out just so their food brand would not be be taxed.

Earmark the taxes collected to nutritional education and medical research or some other heath related cause. Heck, I bet that there would be enough money raised to supply the whole county with free health insurance.

I know I am being a little absurd. But I have worked supporting anti-smoking for 30 years and higher taxes work to lower smoking rates. So maybe it is time to get peoples attention in a different way. We are going to need some way to deal with the diabetes tsunami that is on the horizon.

Getting off my soapbox now.
j

I dont want the government making any personal choices for me. Sorry but if I want to eat and drink badly, thats my choice, not the govt.

So when will they put a ban on all these buffets filled with fatty meats, processed grains, oils, desserts, dairy, etc. where people can eat 10 plates full of calorie dense foods?

I disagree, I don't think it's a start. I think it's a silly idea, just like taxing sugared drinks. I know it's a dream, but why is it so hard to teach people? That is what it's going to take. To have the masses learn about nutrition...the right way and not be fed what the government thinks is healthy. Unfortunately it falls on the responsibility of the people to WANT to change. Many don't.

I would be happy if restaurants would simply offer smaller sized beverages. Ever try to buy 6 oz of orange juice at a restaurant? Or, 8 oz of soda? I don't consume either on a regular basis, but every once in a while, I get a hankering....

I find it interesting that they exempt not only the coffee drinks, but also the juice -- juice these days has the same or worse nutritional content than soda -- it just sounds like it ought to be healthy.

Sharon

I think it's absurd.

I work in a pediatric facility, and at the beginning of last year all sugar sodas were removed from the cafeteria, on-site restaurants, gift shops, and vending machines. All that's available are diet sodas and sugar-free flavored drinks, as well as natual fruit juices. I think that this would be more effective if there were stickers on the machines telling people how many calories they are saving, or how much sugar would have been in that regular Coke, rather than just not allowing them to have it at all. And it's hard to buy that somehow diet drinks are actually healthy, and therefore acceptable, with all those chemicals.

Not to mention that the cafeteria, gift shops, and vending machines still offer cookies and candy! There are also granola bars and dried fruit and other healthier snack choices, but still, it's an odd thing to see one form of sugar that's still allowed (well, sugar AND fat together in all the chocolate and things) while another form of sugar (in drinks) is banned. I guess they figured they had an obligation to make some changes and take a stand against the contributing factors of childhood obesity, and that was the easiest, quickest way to do it.