New York City\'s Beverage Ban

NEW YORK CITY'S BEVERAGE BAN (300 words requested)

Last year, the New York City Board of Health followed the lead of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and banned the sale of sodas and other sugary beverages in serving sizes over 16 fluid ounces. The purpose of the ban was to reduce the societal harm caused by the consumption of high-calorie, high-sugar-content drinks because they contribute to the problem of obesity. Since then, a New York trial court rejected the ban as "arbitrary and capricious," largely because it was established by the Board of Health instead of the New York City Council. The Mayor responded publicly that his administration intends to appeal the decision and that the soda ban is no different, in principle, from similar measures already in place, such as against smoking in restaurants and trans-fats in commercially-prepared foods. The justification is simply that obesity burdens public health care resources and therefore, some of its known causes should be subject to regulation. Meanwhile, opponents of the beverage ban argue that it violates the personal autonomy and freedom of personal choice. They are concerned that regulating soda cup size is a slippery slope leading to laws prohibiting eating too many calories or banning sunbathing, because they also cause health problems.

The legal basis of the State Supreme Court decision was that the ban is "arbitrary" because it would only have applied to some types of businesses and only to those regulated by the city. For example, supermarkets and chain stores were exempted, even though they might be located on the same block as businesses affected by the ban. Ultimately, whether or not future versions of the same law survive legal challenges will probably depend more on how they are framed and whether they resolve some of the issues that the court characterized as "arbitrary" rather than on whether or not the city authorities have the legal right to regulate the sale of large servings of some kinds of beverages.