From Your Health Journal…..”Such an interesting article written by Jennifer Peltz of the Associated Press on the Record Searchlight web site entitled NYC soda-size rule eyed from coffee shops to clubs. We have discussed on this web site many times what is coming ‘down the pike’ with regards to the obesity epidemic facing mankind all over the world. Government intervention will be involved to some extent, maybe not complete control in our lifetime, but some control. With economic times still at a low, and looking for ways to keep health care cost lower, governments will intervene. They want healthy citizens who will be productive in the workplace, who contribute positively to society. Whether bans and restrictions will have an impact…..time will tell. I remember when cigarette commercials were on television many years ago, until they were banned from the tube in an effort not to glorify smoking in the eyes of children, and to hopefully reduce sales. Did it stop minors from smoking, and reduce cancer from smoking? Not quite sure of the impact, but this ban does remind me of this. So, the size of soft drinks will now be reduced….can someone buy 2 drinks of smaller size instead of one larger size? There are still a lot of unknowns.

This appears to be a practical step to staunch an obesity rate that has risen from 18 to 24 percent in a decade among adult New Yorkers. Health officials say sugar-filled drinks bear much of the blame because they carry hundreds of calories — a 32-ounce soda has more than a typical fast-food cheeseburger — without making people feel full. Critics say the regulation won’t make a meaningful difference in diets but will unfairly hurt some businesses while sparing others. A customer who can’t get a 20-ounce Coke at a sandwich shop could still buy a Big Gulp at a 7-Eleven, for instance, since many convenience stores and supermarkets are beyond the city’s regulatory reach. New Yorkers are divided on the restriction. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found 51 percent opposed it, while 46 percent approved. Please read this AP article via the Record Searchlight web site (link provided below) to read the entire article. It will shed some light on what will be going on in NYC.”

From the article…..

At barbecue joints, coffee counters and bottle-service nightclubs, a coming clampdown on big, sugary soft drinks is beginning to take shape on tables and menus in a city that thrives on eating and going out.

Some restaurants are ordering smaller glasses. Dunkin’ Donuts shops are telling customers they’ll have to sweeten and flavor their own coffee. Coca-Cola has printed posters explaining the new rules, and a bowling lounge is squeezing carrot and beet juice as a potential substitute for pitchers of soda at family parties — all in preparation for the nation’s first limit on the size of sugar-laden beverages, set to take effect Tuesday.

Some businesses are holding off, hoping a court challenge nixes or at least delays the restriction. But many are getting ready for tasks including reprinting menus and changing movie theaters’ supersized soda-and-popcorn deals.

At Brother Jimmy’s BBQ, customers still will be able to order margaritas by the pitcher, cocktails in jumbo Mason jars and heaping plates of ribs. But they’ll no longer get 24-ounce tumblers of soda, since the new rule bars selling non-diet cola in cups, bottles or pitchers bigger than 16 ounces.

“Everything we do is big, so serving it in a quaint little 16-ounce soda cups is going to look kind of odd,” owner Josh Lebowitz said. Nonetheless, he’s ordered 1,000 of them for the North Carolina-themed restaurant’s five Manhattan locations, rather than take on a fight that carries the threat of $200 fines.

“As long as they keep allowing us to serve beer in glasses larger than 16 ounces, we’ll be OK,” Lebowitz reasoned.

Beer drinkers can breathe easy: The restriction doesn’t apply to alcoholic beverages, among other exemptions for various reasons. But it does cover such beverages as energy drinks and sweetened fruit smoothies.

City officials say it’s a pioneering, practical step to staunch an obesity rate that has risen from 18 to 24 percent in a decade among adult New Yorkers. Health officials say sugar-filled drinks bear much of the blame because they carry hundreds of calories — a 32-ounce soda has more than a typical fast-food cheeseburger — without making people feel full.

To read the complete article…..Click here