2014 Update: New York Court of Appeals Fails to Reinstate Soda-Size Cap

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In Summer of 2012, the New York City Health Department approved a ban on the sale of soda and other sugary drinks in quantities larger than 16 ounces in restaurants, movie theaters and street carts. The first of its kind in the country, the measure would not apply to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy-based drinks like milkshakes, or alcoholic beverages; it would not extend to beverages sold in grocery stores or convenience stores. The ban is one of the many attempts of Mayor Bloomberg to combat the rise of obesity in America.

Naturally, the ban is quite controversial; the beverage industry sued the Health Department to keep the ban from going into affect in March 2013.

 A handful of Latino groups were against the ban, stating that the ban would hurt Latino-owned businesses and do little to curb childhood obesity. Mayor Bloomberg and others argued that the ban would most benefit the Latino and other minority communities because they tend to drink more sugary drinks.

On March 11, 2013, the day before it was supposed to go into affect, the NYC soda cap was struck down by the state supreme court. Justice Milton Tingling ruled that the proposed regulations were “fraught with arbitrary and capricious consequences.”

The Health Department appealed the ban, but the appeals court upheld the initial decision to prohibit the ban ban from going into affect.

The city plans to appeal to the Court of Appeals, the highest appellate court in New York State.

2014 Update: The National Alliance for Hispanic Health and nine other organizations filed briefs on Monday, April 28, 2014 showing their support for the soda ban. The Alliance issued a statement which included the following:

“The beverage industry has pursued a strategy of legal obstruction and put profits over the health of its customers,” said Dr. Jane L. Delgado, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, the nation’s leading science-based advocate for Hispanic health.

City lawyers will argue the case at the Court of Appeals on June 4, the Law Department said.

Outcome: The New York State Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the city’s Board of Health exceeded its authority when it regulated the portion size of sugary drinks.

“By choosing among competing policy goals, without any legislative delegation or guidance, the Board engaged in law-making and thus infringed upon the legislative jurisdiction of the City Council of New York,” the judges’ majority opinion said.

Despite the ruling, public health advocates will continue to work towards policies that would reduce sugary drink consumption across the country.