NYC Big Drink Ban a Step Closer to Passing

New York City's Board of Heath signaled strong support Tuesday for the mayor's plan to fight obesity by banning the sale of large, sugary beverages at city restaurants.

Published

about 1 year ago

Categories

US, US Politics, Health, Health Policy

Topics

Health, Health Policy, Politics & Government, United States

People

Michael Bloomberg

Places

United States of America, New York City

Tags

soft drinks

Transcript

Script[Location: New York] [Source: AP] [VO: health commissioner, obese people, drinks] NEW YORK MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG'S CONTROVERSIAL PLAN TO BAN THE SALE OF LARGE SUGARY DRINKS IN CITY RESTAURANTS CAME A STEP CLOSER TO REALITY TUESDAY. THE CITY'S BOARD OF THE HEALTH APPROVED THE MEASURE FOR A PUBLIC HEARING. HEALTH OFFICIALS COMPARED SUGAR TO NICOTINE. THEY SAY LARGE SUGARY DRINKS ARE A BIG REASON BEHIND THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC.[SOT/Thomas Farley, NYC Health Commissioner] "The sugary drinks are the item that is most closely associated with the growth of this epidemic and so it drew a proposal as narrow as possible that addressed this largest single driver of this epidemic and we still think that's the appropriate way to go." THE LAW WOULD BAN RESTAURANTS, FOOD COURTS, MOVIE THEATERS AND STADIUMS FROM SELLING HIGH CALORIE DRINKS LIKE COLAS, LEMONADE AND PUNCH IN CONTAINERS LARGER THAN 16 OUNCES. SOME NEW YORKERS ARE WONDERING IF THE GOVERNMENT WILL NEXT GO AFTER MILKSHAKES, BURGERS, FRENCH FRIES AND OTHER FATTY FOODS. [SOT/Abraham Wilkins, New York] "I think this is America and people should decide what they want to do or what they pay for and what they should do is stop going around trying to judge people what they want." ANDREW MOESEL IS WITH A TRADE GROUP THAT REPRESENTS RESTAURANTS IN THE CITY. HE SAYS THE PROPOSED BAN IS MISGUIDED AND WILL HURT BUSINESS. [SOT/Andrew Moesel, New York City Restaurant Association] "Some of the board members seemed to think this proposal didn't go far enough and that's very alarming. Because the majority of New Yorkers as we've seen in several polls think that this is already over-regulation and so I hope as we go through the public hearing process we don't start including other things that New Yorkers value which is free choice, eating what they want when they want it and that was concerning to hear. HEALTH OFFICIALS STRESS IT'S NOT JUST THE PERSON OVEREATING WHO IS BEING HURT. [SOT/Linda Gibbs, NYC Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services] "We spend four billion dollars through the Medicaid budget on treating the diseases that are the outgrowth of obesity and so it is a concern to all of us financially and we should be concerned about the well-being of each other just on a individual, human level." THERE WILL BE A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE LAW ON JULY 24, AND WILL BE PUT TO A FINAL VOTE BY THE BOARD OF HEALTH IN SEPTEMBER. TED SHAFFREY, ASSOCIATED PRESS, NEW YORK (****END****) ANCHOR VOICE: TED SHAFFREY-------------------------VIDEO PRODUCER: TED SHAFFREY---------------------------VIDEO SOURCE: AP-----------------------VIDEO APPROVAL: ----------------------------VIDEO RESTRICTIONS: NONE----------------------------------MARKET EMBARGO (S): NONE--------------------------------SCRIPT/WIRE SOURCE: TED SHAFFREY