16 oz. Soda Ban Approved By NYC Board of Health

So, for those of you not up-to-date on local New York City politics, Michael Bloomberg's latest expansion of ze ebil fascist nanny state a proposed ban on the sale of sugary beverages larger than 16 ounces, just passed the New York City Board of Health, with a unanimous vote, no less The mechanics of the proposal are explained here.

A significant majority of New Yorkers were opposed to the ban, seeing as a violation of civil liberties, where the minority saw it as a reasonable response to a public health crisis of historic proportions.

The beverage industry's been up in arms over it, running a bunch of hilariously pandering ads protesting it.

So, what do you think?

It will be easily dodged by people buying smaller drinks in larger amounts. Or buying the same drinks in bulk in cans or bottles at a store to consume at home. And it will certainly get challenged and might even be thrown out in court.

And maybe people will make an issue out of it to the degree that it becomes an election issue.

edited 13th Sep '12 8:51:20 PM by Rationalinsanity

AFAIK, there's some research suggesting that small portions lead to lower consumption, so maybe not.

and so begins libertrians taking up the cause of having the right to destroy yourself physically, I suppose.

Wasn't it only banned from streetside vendors and stuff? Convenience Stores and such still are allowed I think.

And the problem with that is...?

because its the kind of "right" that has huge tax and social costs on everyone else and doesnt really address the root problem of processed, unhealthy food being cheaper than healthy options

Thing about humans is that while we have a lower limit on what we need to consume and do in order to survive, there is no upper limit. Food portions have ballooned since the 50s, and the result is obesity and poor diets, substituting quantity for quality and nutrition.

I'm all for this ban. People do not realize how much they have to eat if you give them a lot. There was this study that I heard about (I know, quality sourcing, rite? :P) where the experimental group was given a bowl for soup, and they got as much soup as they wanted. Another group got the same sized bowl, but they were only given one portion of soup. Despite the fact that the unlimited refill group had more to eat, they felt the same as the group which had only one bowl of soup.

-shrug- If you want people to be healthier, make the healthy options cheaper. I'd love to eat more light meats and vegetables for example (was raised on a subsistence farm), but buying them at the supermarket is really expensive.

If we really gave a shit about health, farm subsidies would be more in line with healthy eating, but they aren't.

As to the ban...it's a stupid law, doubly so because it is really easy to circumvent if you want to put more soda in your body.

It's a figleaf law anyway, intended to just make people feel better for imposing a rule. I have serious doubts it'll make any difference to public health.

It's "Something must be done! This is something, so let's do it!"

edited 13th Sep '12 9:48:28 PM by Morven

essentially, yes. The mayor just wants to look like he's doing something...actually doing something, well, that's too much work.

That's stupid, they couldn't at least make an exception for diet coke?

I've heard that too. I think it's a social thing - if smaller portions are on offer, people generally don't ask for more. IIRC, Mc Donalds had a big breakthrough when they managed to normalise being a greedy bastard.

edited 13th Sep '12 11:22:42 PM by TheBatPencil

This said... 16 ounces are almost half a liter, right? Who is ever going to drink that amount of soda in one go? Is it even physically possible?

edited 14th Sep '12 12:06:15 AM by Carciofus

Yes, 16 fluid ounces is half a litre, or just under that. It's twice the US standardized cup measurement.

It's also a pretty small size. I have a 52 ounce cup on my desk right now. That's 1.54 litres.

500ml is the average size for bottled soda in this country.

Keep in mind unless you specifically ask otherwise or fill it yourself, like 2/3 of any given volume of soda is going to be ice.

And sometimes they'll "accidentally forget" and put a shitload of ice in it anyway if you ask for none.

edited 14th Sep '12 1:24:28 AM by Pykrete

Non-Americans don't generally know of the American obsession with ice.

Yeah, if you get a 16 oz soda around here, you're going to get maybe 4-5 mouthfuls of actual soda because they try to skimp you as much as they can get away with.

^^We like to keep our drinks cold because the Western half of this country has temperatures that reach triple-digit figures in Fahrenheit and the Eastern half has enough humidity to make an XXL shirt cling to skin like a latex catsuit.

...You probably didn't need that mental image, actually.

edited 14th Sep '12 1:42:04 AM by RocketDude

It's kept refrigerated in the fountain :|

Ah, that makes sense then — or better, it still doesn't, but not in the "Americans are soda-oriented camels" sense anymore

Oh, it is possible all right. I recently downed like sixty ounces when I went to a Mc Donalds recently.

Is it physically possible to drink 500ml in one sitting? Someone asked that unironically? As Deadbeatloset said that's standard here, and often isn't enough for me.

500ml is, like, your standard bottle of ginger.