Dive Summary:
- Inspired by Mayor Bloomberg's effort to regulate sugary drinks in New York city, health advocates are gearing up for battle to regulate what the food industry sells to U.S. consumers.
- Activists point to similarities between the fight to regulate food and the fight to regulate cigarettes, where regulatory restrictions were imposed on tobacco companies despite massive lobbying efforts; however, others point to the differences between cigarettes and food, where it is difficult to distinguish precisely what is bad and good for consumers.
- "Once you open the door a crack for these sorts of things, they don't go away," said Ruth MacDonald, chairwoman of the Food Science and Human Nutrition department at Iowa State University; MacDonald foresees an eventual middle ground where the government discourages junk food consumption, consumer awareness of nutrition increases and the food industry tailors its products to consumer interests.
From the article:
"... In the latest round, the food industry notched a big win. Within hours of New York City's ban on big sugary drinks going into effect March 11, a New York State Supreme Court justice struck it down. The judge blasted the city for regulatory overreach, because it didn't consult the city council. He also called the rule 'arbitrary and capricious,' because it didn't apply to all establishments in the city or all high-calorie sweetened drinks.
More battles lie ahead. After New York proposed controversial soda regulations last year, the mayor of Cambridge, Mass., weighed in on the desirability of doing the same in her city. ..."
