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Surprise! Big Soda's Suing Board Of Health Over Soda Ban
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Oct 13, 2012
Modified Oct 13, 2012
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Alec Tabak/Gothamist
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Oct 13, 2012
Modified Oct 13, 2012
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Looks like it didn't take long for Big Soda to bring out the Big Legal Guns against Mayor Bloomberg's soda ban: yesterday, soda bigwigs like the American Beverage Association, the National Restaurant Association and the National Association of Theatre Owners filed a lawsuit against the Board of Health saying the city overstepped its bounds in enacting the ban.
The plaintiffs, most of whom sent representatives to speak out against the ban at this summer's public hearing, are arguing that the power to enact such a measure—which will stop restaurants, delis and concession stands from serving sugared drinks larger than 16 ounces—lies in the hands of City Council and not the Board of Health. "This lawsuit is about ensuring that the Board of Health respects the legislative process," Caroline Starke, a spokeswoman for the beverage groups, said in a statement.
Big Soda's nervous about losing big business, saying that downsizing drinks at places like movie theaters and dining spots while allowing grocery stores and other non ban-targeted establishments to sell large sodas will hurt sales. And according to Robert Sunshine, the executive director of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York State. you might start to see those already absurd movie ticket prices go up: "Sharing sodas and other concessions also helps to keep the movie-going experience affordable," he said in an affidavit. "The sale of concessions also helps keep ticket prices down." Soft drink unions have also thrown their hats into the legal ring, saying beverage workers will lose their jobs due to significant changes in distribution in merchandising.
But the city notes there's no use going up against the ban, saying that the Board of Health "absolutely has the authority to regulate matters affecting health." "This predictable, yet baseless, lawsuit fortunately will help put an even greater spotlight on the obesity epidemic," Marc LarVorgna, a spokesman for the mayor's office, said. ""Industry tried to stop the city's smoking ban. Industry sued the city to stop calorie counts. Not only did those efforts fail, but our policies have been adopted in cities and states across the country." The ban is set to take effect citywide starting March 12, and recent studies have backed up Bloomberg's argument that sugared drinks contribute to obesity.
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Rebecca Fishbein
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