What do you think of the proposed big soda ban?

46 Comments

  • Kristie Grace - 12 years ago

    This is not a communist country! Keep our rights as Americans! The land of the free!

    Why should anyone have any restrictions of what we put in our body? We are all aware what is good for us and what is bad, but let us Americans make our own decisions and keep the goverment out of it!

  • Craig Greiner - 12 years ago

    Why does anyone think that sugared drinks are the reason for obesity for American citizens? It is not sugared drinks that are causing obesity in the American people. The government should not be allowed to say wether anyone should drink whatever is available in the markets or how much they can drink. Why does the government want to impose such ridiculous "sanctions" against American citizens. Even if you lower the intake of sugared drinks it is not going to reduce the obesity factor or stop someoned from comsuming the same amounts.
    What should I do next Uncle Sam?

  • Ruth - 12 years ago

    While Mayor Bloomberg may mean well, he is really off-base with his proposal to limit the size of sugared drinks sold in many NYC venues. First, there are no data supporting the idea that such a law will result in less consumption of such drinks--it's easy enough to buy two or more if someone wants to do so. Second, reduction in calorie consumption from sweetened drinks may simply result in additional consumption from other caloric sources (as has been recently been demonstrated: Hollie A Raynor et al.
    Limiting variety in non-nutrient-dense, energy-dense foods during a lifestyle intervention: a randomized controlled trial Am J Clin Nutr 2012 95: 1305-1314;

  • Terry Jeffery - 12 years ago

    The City of NewYork, or particularly it's mayor are not repsonsible for making decisions for everyone solely based upon his personal beliefs. As a people we need less government intrusion into our every day lives. While obesity is a problem in ths country it is not the governments place to try and force feed us their ideals. Soft drinks are a truly minor problem and consumption of sugar based drinks is down while obesity is up. However they are an easy target and makes it look like the Mayor is actually doing something.

  • Henry C - 12 years ago

    This is soooo stupid. Why not ban large slices of pizza? Better yet, ban restaurants from serving steaks larger than 4 oz. If the Mayor is concerned about behavior maybe ban the sale of pants larger than 34 and dresses larger than 12.

  • Rudie - 12 years ago

    The Cola Prohibition is coming! What a stupidity! And what about sugar, white bread, butter, french fries, huge fatty burgers, etc., etc. There are so many more foods that are killing the ignorant people much faster than the big bottled soft drinks.
    You will be welcome to buy a huge burger with white bread, mayonnaise, and fries - 2,000 cal in total, but not a soda with 200 cal? Does that make sense?
    Be smarter, put on everything bigger labels with the calories inside, and make it graphic - like with the cigarettes. Teach people better what is bad for their health.

  • Alva Lillie - 12 years ago

    I assume substituting apples for french fries in a child combo meal didn't do the trick? How about adding dairy to the beverage menu? Regulations such as limiting the amount of sugar beverages are insisting that we are incapable of making sound healthy decisions (given the technological advances this day and age). As long as the options are there, responsibility is that of the individual what they choose to drink, how often, and how much at any given time. This is not the long sought after answer to ending obesity in America. Please continue to allow us to make our own decisions and hold ourselves accountable in this fight.

  • Chris - 12 years ago

    People will always find a way to get more. Banning sodas over 16 oz. would just be a silly notion to a much larger epidemic. It is not going to fix the root of the problem and will only exacerbate the growing perception of the government telling citizens what's good for them. The fatty heart of the obesity epidemic is that people lack self control and discipline over their diets. They work less physically, eat more often, and all too often eat the wrong things. It may take a little more social engineering than tossing a ban on sodas out there to keep people from getting fat.

  • Jen Burton - 12 years ago

    Unbelievable! What’s next, no sugar in your coffee, no maple syrup for your pancakes, too much butter on that bread, no sprinkles on top of that ice-cream…but is it OK for me to put butter on my broccoli? Can I have a baked potato…oh no that’s carbs…is that bad? Is it OK to have sugar free soda? Please tell me what to do…I can’t make my own choices!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    The power of choice is an amazing thing. Please let me make mine!

    Give #NewYorkers credit! They can make own choices abt beverages they buy. @CocaCola clearly labels calories http://CokeURL.com/NYChealth

  • Ed - 12 years ago

    100% of people who drink soda are not obese. So this asks those who are not obese to pay for those who are. Instead, ask the obese to pay a tax. That will drive the behavior needed to combat the root cause: An energy imbalance. You can't take in more than you burn.

  • David - 12 years ago

    Anyone who thinks soda is causing the obesity epedimic is highly misguided. Both sugar and soda have been around for more that 125 years. This epedimic is current, last 30 or so years. It is not soda. So ask yourself, what has changed in our foods in the last 30 years and you will figure it out. I AM NOT going to tell you b/c for once, think for yourselves. It is shameful you never do.

    Second, taxing and banning soda is plain idiotic to me. Anyone who says different does not know what this country was founded on or what America is about. This is also shameful.
    People are complaining about healthcare costs, medicare costs.......blah, blah, blah....and I will not have coverage because you decided to dring pop.....really? DO YOU REALLY THINK SODA IS THE ISSUE????? Wake up. When you can't do your favorite thing anymore, rather it be sky-diving, scuba diving, riding your bike on a NY street, don't complain. It is only your freedoms being taken away. Ask yourself, what do I enjoy most in life? Then ask, how you would feel if that was taken away from you.....cause the "taking" is not going to stop because you let it.

  • Tom - 12 years ago

    Ban sodas, but not juices, alcohol or milkshakes! Juices contain just as much sugar as soda. Milkshakes contain as much sugar, not to mention fat. Alcohol contains sugar and if you drink more than the equivalent of one drink per hour, you are legally drunk.

    Clearly Bloomberg is upset that his attempts to tax sodas didn't work and now he is trying another tactic. Our freedoms are being eroded by politicians who are looking for ways to increase revenue. This isn't about obesity, its about governments that can't control their spending,

  • Bobby - 12 years ago

    I find it amazing that politicans are trying to regulate soda consumption. I haven't seen someone arrested driving drunk after having coke. However i have seen drunks kill people when they are allowed to drive. We need to ban liquor....

  • B. Murray - 12 years ago

    ....Wow. Wake up America? Our free rights are going away? Over soda? Seriously, just...how old are you. Lets put it this way, this younger generation has obviously had more verbal training and grammar mechanics than the 64% rattling about how the government should stay out of their drinks. Heres the thing, you want the government out of your health, but plan to accep medicare later in life...correct? Pre-emptively keeping you from drinking and eating yourself into high blood pressure, type II diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes, may be the only way my generation will see a dime of medicare. Because you're not taking care of yourself, and its costing the current taxpaer trillions of dollars, for your prescirptions, your constant hospital visits, your triple/quadruple bi-passes. All in all its called being a bit healthier; had he taken away soda in general (good f-ing idea btw) then I could understand all the moaning, but he isnt. He is asking that you be smart, think for a moment and realize you don't need all of that f-ing soda. There is this thing, its free and runs from a tap its revoulationary! It's called...

    WATER!!! and now theres drink mixes, and mios and all sorts of other sugar-free, energy inducing products to go with that WATER. So before you think about how the "government" has no business getting into your business, just remember a small bit of this could be the simple fact that they're trying to save us all a dollar...off of your 99c cheeseburger fetish.

  • lynn - 12 years ago

    ..

  • Scott - 12 years ago

    You can't legislate people into better health. People have to want to be healthy. Society is definitely in a downward spiral when it comes to diet and health (among other things), but it's not for the government to force individuals to do better for themselves.

  • Stone - 12 years ago

    It is absolutely mind-boggling, that a Politician who would even advance an idea like this can possibly have a viable political career and actually be taken seriously. It is nothing short of sheer lunacy. There is no possible discussion, no meritable argument that can possibly justify this kind of proposal, much less it's implementation. Additionally, it is CLEARLY unconstitutional. Maybe Bloomberg should actually spend more time trying to fix NEW YORK instead of trying to fix NEW YORKERS!

  • Ryan - 12 years ago

    Wake up America! Our personal rights and freedoms are slowly but surely going away. If governments can ban this, where does it stop? Remember when we used to have freedom of speech?

  • YG - 12 years ago

    Bloomberg's ban would not apply to diet drinks, juices, milkshakes or alcohol - WHY NOT? Personally, I may have a 20 oz soda but I also drink a lot of water and I don't eat any other sugar related items or drink juice, coffee, tea, lattes or any other caffeinated/sugared up beverages, as well, I don't drink liquor. With that said, for all you who think soda should be banned, why not ban everything except water? Then let's see where you stand on the issue. BTW, before you make the comment: I am not obese, I exercise regularly and control what I eat. So Mayor Bloomberg and all the other folks that believe it is their right to tell people what to put in their bodies..you should really think about the high calorie or sugar laced item you last consumed.

  • Joe - 12 years ago

    I think the us has a problem when the average of obese adults is 30%, 60% are overweight and children are about 15%, theres about a fraction of us that are actually in good shape. I feel like someone should do something about our lack of knowledge in the way that we overconsume processed food. I mean who honestly thinks that drinking 44 oz of coke is not bad for you no matter how tall or heavy you are, 12 oz of that crap has 60-80 grams of sugar, multiply that by 4 and youre just asking to be fat. I for one know first hand what eating tons of wheat and sugar does to a body. I discovered eating the way our ancestors used to eat before cancer and heart disease was ever heard of. Buy your food from the farm where it is raised to be healthy not for massive profit. I mean seriously people, cows arent supposed to eat corn and soy...what does a cow eat? grass! Why do you think there are so much recalled beef? Because cows arent supposed to eat that crap and neither are we. There is a direct connection with disease and the way we eat, your fat because you eat like shit, your sick because you eat like shit. Wake up people and stop being so stupid.

  • Curtis - 12 years ago

    It doesn't matter if it passes, there are ways around it & all it will do is hurt businesses. It states it doesn't apply to grocery stores, only restaurants & movie theaters. At a movie theater, I'll buy the giant diet soda & then dump it out & get the free refill of whatever I want b/c then I'm not buying it. At a restaurant, I'll just get more refills & if going through a drive through, I won't get the soda, I'll just stop by a store & get my 1 liter drink there. Aren't quick stops that don't sell gas primarily a grocery store, so the law won't apply to them either. What about Walmart, it's not a grocery store, so does the law apply to them? Not a very well thought out idea. "If you use legislation instead of education, we are doomed as a society."

  • Lynn - 12 years ago

    And Dave I know alot of heavy people that are graduated from college and work 80 hrs per week , call that lazy...

  • Danni - 12 years ago

    I'm pretty sure we still live in America, although its hard to tell these days, and if people want to be fat, and not pay attention to what they put in their bodies, that is there right to do so. There are so many advertisments, shows, and reading materials that allow people to learn how to eat healthy, if people are still too lazy to do their own homework, well then that is their choice, and eventually their own problem as well. There are still enough people in the world who take care of themselves, and just because we live in the laziest country in the world, doesnt mean we should be punishing everyone for it.

  • Lynn - 12 years ago

    Dave so you think all obese people are lazy, obese and uneducated people , you are so prejudice it is not funny, why dont we start banning achololic drinks first they can kill people, or the people the drunk drivers kill....take that Dave..!!!!!!!!

  • EVW - 12 years ago

    I think this is a violation of rights, both for businesses and individuals. What will they ban next? Diet drinks are shown to cause weight gain, so doesn't that defeats the purpose? Many Starbucks' drinks have more calories than a 44 oz soda, so why not ban those? There are much bigger issues that need to be dealt besides banning sodas.

  • MacK - 12 years ago

    This is all conditioning. The more "trivial" rights we allow them to take away from us, the less we will resist when the more significant rights begin to disappear.

  • Sandip - 12 years ago

    Why don't you ban sugar instead? I thought I migrated to a free country where I choose what to drink and how much to drink. If I want that larger soda which is available everywhere else, who are you to prevent me?

  • Jeremiah - 12 years ago

    Dave you couldn't have it any better, and also it is no different than saying not to text while driving!!!!

  • Stranger - 12 years ago

    Instead of banning something entirely (this is still a "free" country, right?), lets just educate consumers on what they're putting into their bodies. For example, if you want to buy a 64 oz. soda, you live in America, you get your big ass soda. However, put the nutrition info on the cup so you, at the very least, can learn that 64 oz. of Pepsi contains 800 calories, about 1/3 recommended daily intake, and 224 grams of carbs, about 3/4 recommended daily intake. That's disgusting and the problem is nobody realizes how disgusting that is.

  • Dave - 12 years ago

    The sad thing is, most out of shape, lazy, obese and uneducated people are up in arms against this. The rest of us (soon to be a minority in this country) are all for it. Why? If you cant take care of yourself, yes, let the Gov step in. No different than them telling you to wear a seat belt, to no drink & drive or not to jaywalk! Who the hell needs a liter of cola anyways?!?!?

  • John G - 12 years ago

    The Begining of the end if this goes through..
    whats next,potato chips and salsa?
    Just make the nutrition info avaliable and let us make our own choices..

  • W.C. - 12 years ago

    oh wow..i left china for this? what else can I won't be able to do next?

  • Roe - 12 years ago

    Sorry, but I agree it isn't the governments place..what next...remove the twinkies or snacks. This will not fix the issue and is one more step towards a dictatorship/communism. Get real Bloomberg. People will just get refills.

  • Robin Wilder - 12 years ago

    Let's just get more refills - stupidest thing i've ever heard - don't the politicians have anything better to think about!!!!!!!

  • Carolyn Quigley - 12 years ago

    The mayor of NYC is just like every other worthless politician. Why doesn't he ban potatoes, high in starch, or cans of spam, high in sodium. Instead of asking people to take responsibility for their action. Maybe if they refused to pay for their care,through the welfare system, they might get the message. Of course that would require some backbone.

  • Another Mike - 12 years ago

    So.. let me see if I understand this correctly...

    so, eat what you want, drink what you want, but when you have to take meds for your heart disease or diabetes, you want me (via the Govt.) or me (via health insurance premiums) to cover the cost ?

    Forget the ban.. tax it.

  • diane p - 12 years ago

    I agree that soda isn't healthy. However, the larger sized drinks may be shared by multiple people as an economic alternative to buying multiple 16oz drinks.

  • deb - 12 years ago

    I agree with Melissa and Mike! Stop supporting obese people's bad health!! Let them pay more for insurance, disability everything, when they can't walk and their kidneys are shutting down. It has become very obvious that we have more stupid people than ever who can't make decisions for themselves but want entitlements!

  • JD - 12 years ago

    "Soda's." Nice going, Polldaddy.

  • trolololol - 12 years ago

    honestly. what have we come to. this is complete bull. The government is completely overstepping itself in this situation. It is way outside of their jurisdiction to forcefully command us what to do.

    I understand the state wants to have more control over obesity. Next thing you know, they'll be banning hamburgers, hot dogs and candy.

  • FB - 12 years ago

    So you can't order a 44oz Sweetened Iced Tea, but you can order a 44oz Long Island Iced Tea? Nice...

  • Brandon T - 12 years ago

    I wonder how many of those 63% or so who don't want the government to tell them what they can't drink support having the government tell them what they can, for example, smoke...

  • melissa - 12 years ago

    you can't have it both ways-either people are responsible or they are not; but to say the government shouldn't tell you what to do, but then demand free treatment for the mess you made is hypocrisy. Either it is (responsible) or it is not. But don't make poor decisions your whole life (out of freedom of choice) then ask for free healthcare to treat the consequences.

  • Mike - 12 years ago

    If the govt doesn't have a right to tell you what to drink, then you shouldn't expect society to pay your disability, welfare, and hospital bills when you get too fat and your health fails you. You can't have it both ways...

    PS. Why is anyone drinking sugary soda anyway - switch to diet already (or better yet - water)...

  • scott w - 12 years ago

    Don't ban them - tax them like was done for cigarettes! It will raise a great amount of money. Do it for the children...

  • scott w - 12 years ago

    Don't ban them - tax then like was done for cigarettes! It will raise a great amount of money. Do it for the children...

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