London Mayor Boris Johnson on the Jon Stewart show. [Telegraph] Meanwhile, @pourmecoffee notes that “Each winning player gets time with Stanley Cup to do anything they want with it, except drink sugary drinks if you’re in NY.” Per Michael Jacobson of the CSPI, soft drinks are the “single biggest source of calories in the American diet.” Really? [ACSH] More: “Soda jerk: Bloomberg’s proposed ban is about power, not public health” [Shikha Dalmia, The Daily]
This just in: NYC Board of Health members also eye size limits on movie theater popcorn and milkshakes.
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So, if per the ACHS link, the largest sources of calories are flour and fats . Why do they allow doughnuts to be sold as a box of a dozen. Shouldn’t they be limit to purchase of one (plain — no fillings or toppings) . The Mayor must like them after all he signed the proclamation for National Doughnut Day the day after he proposed the 16oz limit. Maybe that’s his next target for us poor ignorant peasants.
I am opposed to any government regulation of food selection.
That said, neither ACSH (where I once worked) nor the USDA it references, are anything but tools of industry. (ACSH once published a booklet on sugar and health that was printed by The Hershey Company without disclosure.) Americans do have a huge and growing problem with obesity, and even the USDA places sugary drinks fourth on the caloric intake list, not so far behind grain-based desserts. According to USDA, the desserts supply an average of 138 calories daily and the soft drinks 114 calories daily.
http://goo.gl/hgI8N
ACSH, always the reliable apologist for junk foods, doesn’t quote the USDA about the effect of sugary drinks:
“Strong evidence shows that children and adolescents who consume more sugar-sweetened beverages have higher body weight compared
to those who drink less, and moderate evidence also supports this relationship in adults.”
When ACSH revealed its funding sources they included Coca-Cola, Pepsico, and the Sugar Association. But so far as I am aware that “science” organization stopped disclosing its donors years ago.
In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stated that “Sugar-sweetened beverages are the largest source of added sugars in the diet of U.S. youth.”
http://goo.gl/oOXhE
According to the CDC, “Overall, males consume an average of 178 kcal from sugar drinks on any given day, while females consume 103 kcal.” If that is true then sugary drinks are by far the largest single source of calories in the male diet.
I leave it to you to decide why ACSH prefers to quote the USDA rather than the CDC.
While I don’t support government limits on soft drink consumption, even ACSH cannot effectively sugar-coat the harm that soft drinks do to Americans.
Come on Mr. Mayor… man up. It’s time to limit New Yorkers to a single slice of pizza per meal. Bagels are even more fattening than donuts: a plain donut runs from 170-270 kCal.; a plain bagel, 300-380 kCal.
It’s time to ban bagels from New York.
Go ahead, Mr. Mayor… just try that.
We needn’t even discuss a deli-made corned beef or pastrami sandwich now, do we?
“A JELLY DONUT? Why is there a jelly donut in your footlocker, private Pyle?”
I’m all for debating the merits of this. But The Daily’s attempt to looking into Bloomberg’s soul to only find a man intent on power… Public opinion is against Bloomberg on this on the merits. I can’t see the wisdom in attacking him personally or questioning his motives.
Line up Comrades. It’s time for your daily ration of one cup of moldy rice.
While I don’t support government limits on soft drink consumption, even ACSH cannot effectively sugar-coat the harm that soft drinks do to Americans.
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Pfffft. I’d phrase it as providing 10% of your daily energy!
This whole exercise has shown Bloomie’s not too small a man for anything though, I will give him that.
Wasn’t the CSPI one of those who originally supported using trans-fats as a replacement two decades ago?