Bloomberg’s Fight on America’s Expanding Girth
Sip that with a straw. If Mayor Bloomberg has his way, the sale of soda and sugary drinks over 16oz will be banned in NY. Many support this, including doctors, health organizations, nutritionists – but definitely not the soda industry. This is reminiscent of the cigarette controversy of yesteryear. How long was that lie covered up? It also smacks of corporate greed at the expense of public health. Remember not too long ago, the corn industry started their war on the outcry against high fructose corn syrup with a request to rename it “Corn Sugar”, as if we’re supposed to think that’s healthier. Seriously??
Are we that dumb? I think most won’t argue that a 64 oz “double gulp” from 7-11, with 186 grams of sugar -that’s about 800 calories and 46 tsp of sugar in ONE serving! (yes you heard right) is more sugar than any human could possibly need. We know for a fact that sugary beverages makes up the largest percentage of added sugar to our already Standard American Diet or “SAD”. We have a definitive link between excessive soda consumption and obesity. Soda and most sugary beverages have no redeeming nutritional quality, so if any food should be banned – that’s the one to start with. However, it’s an uphill battle to say the least.
One could argue that If we could all effectively self- monitor, then there might not be an obesity crisis today. Violation of our rights as consumers is yet another side of the story. How about the responsibility of the food industry to public health? Is there a reason other than greed that we have these ridiculous super sized drinks and meals available to us? It’s time we Americans took back our health and be responsible for ourselves. Just because these large sized sodas, or sugary donuts or fast food or crack for that matter, is available – does that mean we should buy it?
Mayor Bloomberg has our health at heart, and although it’s a controversial proposal, how about we just demand a better food supply from the food industry. At the very least, he’s promoted dialogue and awareness of the problem of giant beverages (or any unhealthy food for that matter) – and that’s always good.
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