Saturday, September 15, 2012

Mayor Bloomberg call your office: "the whole point about the lid on Pandora's box is you don't get to pick and choose what comes flying out"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/new-york-soda-ban_b_1885094.html


Big Apple Bans Big Soda: Big Deal?

Posted: 09/14/2012 8:00 pm




Now that the New York City Board of Health hasratified Mayor Bloomberg's plan to ban sugar-sweetened beverages (well, some such beverages, really) larger than 16 ounces, we should be able to answer the question: Is this a big deal?
...................

There is also the risk of -- to put it very bluntly -- pissing people off. I don't mean the people working for the American Beverage Association, whatever made-up organization they are disguising themselves with during any given week. And I don't mean those who think the existence of the Environmental Protection Agency is an assault on civil liberties and testimony to a nanny state. In my opinion, people who go that far are either ninnies -- or have something to sell.
No, I mean it may piss off perfectly reasonable people who legitimately see in this a slippery-slope concern. Why just the size of soft drinks, and not the size of the burger, and the fries, and then the whole lunch? And then why not breakfast, and dinner? And then...
This concern may not be valid, but it's hard to tell. I certainly know Mayor Bloomberg's intentions are pure, but the whole point about the lid on Pandora's box is you don't get to pick and choose what comes flying out. If public health turns the formerly ambivalent into a riled-up opposition, we could go backward rather than forward. Will that happen?"

No comments:

Post a Comment