Bloomberg's soda siphonBloomberg's soda siphon

Paul Frumkin

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg again is locking horns with the restaurant industry as he seeks to ban the sale of large sodas and sugary drinks in the city.


Targeting the nation’s health and obesity problems, Bloomberg said he wants New York to establish a 16-ounce size limit on sugary beverages served at restaurants, delis, sports venues, movie theaters and street carts throughout the five boroughs. 


According to the proposal, sugary drinks are defined as beverages that are “sweetened with sugar or another caloric sweetener that contain more than 25 calories per 8 fluid ounces and contain less than 51 percent milk or milk substitute by volume as an ingredient.”


The ban would not apply to diet drinks, calorie-free drinks and alcoholic beverages and would not include beverages sold in grocery or convenience stores.


“In New York City nearly 60 percent of adults and nearly 40 percent of children are overweight or obese, and there are real-world consequences,” Bloomberg said. “People’s lives will be shorter, their quality of life is going to be dramatically reduced, and obesity is going to start killing more people in this country than smoking.”


If enacted, the ban could take effect as early as March 2013, and restaurants that don’t comply could face fines of $200 following a three-month grace period.


This marks the latest in a succession of health-oriented skirmishes between the New York restaurant community and Bloomberg. During his three terms as mayor, Bloomberg has banned smoking in public places, outlawed trans fats in restaurants and mandated that chain operators post calorie counts and other nutrition information on their menus and menu boards.


In addition, he has campaigned to get restaurants to reduce their use of salt and mandated that health-inspection letter grades be posted prominently in restaurant windows. He also promoted a New York state tax on soda, but the measure was defeated in Albany.


There are about 25,000 foodservice establishments in New York’s five boroughs.


According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity rates have risen steadily in the past few decades. In its most recent 2010 figures, the agency reported that 35.7 percent of U.S. adults and 17 percent of U.S. children between the ages of 2 and 17 are obese.


While City Hall officials and health advocates cite sugary beverages as one of the biggest contributors to the obesity problem, industry members maintain that a ban on such high-margin beverages would damage businesses that are just beginning to recover from the economic downturn. 


Andrew Moesel, a spokesman for the New York City chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association, said, “We appreciate the mayor’s concerns about public health, but this goes too far.”


He said the group would oppose the measure “vigorously.”


Judith Thorman, the International Franchise Association’s senior vice president, government relations and public policy, said, “Limiting the sale of beverages to consumers will do nothing more than force small-business franchise restaurant owners to raise prices on other items to account for a loss in sales, or worse yet, consider laying off workers, and neither option is a good option.”


Scott DeFife, executive vice president of policy and government affairs for the National Restaurant Association, noted, “There is no silver bullet in America’s fight against obesity, and hyper-regulation such as this misplaces responsibility and creates a false sense of accomplishment.”


Operators also voiced concerns. Jim Morgan, chief executive of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, said the pending regulations would have little effect on the chain’s handful of units in New York. However, he said, “the scarier part is the interference with personal choice and business. We all need to be careful about that.”


Zane Tankel, the operator of more than three dozen Applebee’s in the New York area, agreed, saying he doesn’t believe “the government should be limiting free choice or business this way.”


But, he said, “I do see some justification for it. Obesity is a major problem. Health care costs are going through the roof, and at the end of the day, we end up paying for it in taxes.”


He said a ban on the selling of large servings of high-margin sweetened drinks “won’t have a dramatic impact on gross sales, but it will have an impact on margins. Soft drinks are a high-profit item.”


Irwin Kruger, who formerly owned seven McDonald’s franchises in Manhattan and is now a Smashburger franchisee, said the ban would negatively impact customer perceptions and speed of service.


“You’ll get tourists who have no clue about what a ban on soft drinks is all about,” he said. “Employees will have to explain to them why they can’t get the same sized drink in New York that they’re used to at home, and that will take time at the counter and possibly annoy the customer.”


Bloomberg’s proposal has its supporters, though. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said obesity “poses enormous costs to society, and we need to cut down on the major causes of obesity — and soft drinks are at the top of the list.


“If [the ban] reduces consumption by 5 or 10 percent, it should have an impact on obesity and reduce health care costs in New York. I’m sure every other health commissioner in the country is looking at this, and I expect to see more proposals around the country.”



Contact Paul Frumkin at [email protected]
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