65% Say No To Ban on Super-Size Sugary Drinks

Mayor Bloomberg sent out the decree - No super-size sweetened drinks will be sold in New York City, that's if he gets his way, but most Americans oppose the ban.

A new Rasmussen survey has found that 65% of American adults oppose a law that would ban the sale of sweetened drinks larger than 16 ounces. 

Only 24% favor a law like the one Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed.

Eleven percent (11%) are undecided. (Really? these people can't even form an opinion?)

Well, we have an opinion - "leave us alone, we like butter, salt, fats and 64 ounces of sugar."

Bloomberg and his soda ban

The Mayor of New York is at it again.

Yet another proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of sugary drinks sold in delis, fast-food places and even sports arenas.

This covers everything from energy drinks to pre-sweetened iced teas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces — about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle — would be prohibited under this plan, which could take effect as soon as next March.

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 or convenience stores either.

Mayor  “Bloomberg said, I think that’s what the public wants the mayor to do.”

The New York City Beverage Association criticized the city’s proposal saying, “The New York City health department’s unhealthy obsession with attacking soft drinks is again pushing them over the top, It’s time for serious health professionals to move on and seek solutions that are going to actually curb obesity. These zealous proposals just distract from the hard work that needs to be done on this front.”

Mr. Bloomberg has made his vision of public health one of the top priorities of his tenure, and has proposed a bunch of aggressive regulations, including bans on smoking in restaurants and parks, a prohibition against artificial trans fat in restaurant food and a requirement for health inspection grades to be posted in restaurant windows.

The ban would not apply to drinks with fewer than 25 calories per 8-ounce serving, like zero-calorie Vitamin Waters and unsweetened iced teas, as well as diet sodas.

Restaurants, delis, movie theater and ballpark concessions would be affected, because they are regulated by the health department. Carts on sidewalks and in Central Park would also be included, but not vending machines or newsstands.

At fast-food chains, where sodas are often dispersed at self-serve fountains, restaurants would be required to hand out cup sizes of 16 ounces or less, regardless of whether a customer opts for a diet drink. But free refills — and additional drink purchases — would be allowed.

Corner stores and bodegas would be affected if they are defined by the city as “food service establishments.” Those stores can most easily be identified by the health department letter grades they are required to display in their windows.

The mayor, who said he occasionally drank a diet soda “on a hot day,” argued against the idea that the plan would limit consumers’ choices, saying the option to buy more soda would always be available.

“Your argument, I guess, could be that it’s a little less convenient to have to carry two 16-ounce drinks to your seat in the movie theater rather than one 32 ounce,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a sarcastic tone. “I don’t think you can make the case that we’re taking things away.”

He also said he foresaw no adverse effect on local businesses, and he suggested that restaurants could simply charge more for smaller drinks if their sales were to drop.

In London, Supersize drinks should be banned from cinemas, restaurants and sports grounds in London to curb obesity, health experts say.

Anti-obesity campaigner Tam Fry told Mayor Boris Johnson to copy New York, banning the 16oz limit on the sale of sugary drinks.

This ban would apply to restaurants, cinemas and sports stadiums, and includes Coca-Cola, Pepsi and some iced-coffee drinks sold in Starbucks. Starbucks’s largest iced coffee in the UK is the Venti, which is 20oz. The equivalent is 22oz in the US, where the largest offering is the 31oz.

But all is well, Bloomberg is still supporting ‘National Donut Day’ tomorrow.

School fined for accidentally selling soda

A Utah high school is being punished by the government.

Davis High School in the Salt Lake City area is having to pay over a whopping $15,000 in fines to the Feds because it accidentally sold soda through a vending machine during lunch.

Federal law requires the school to turn off its soda machines during the lunch period, which is 47 minutes a day. Davis High school did turn off the machines in the lunch room, however, the school didn‘t realize that there was another machine in the school bookstore that wasn’t being turned off, that's when the food police realized it and the school was hit with a $0.75 fine per student for the duration of the offense.

As a result, the school is going to cut money to fine arts programs to make up the cost.

Teens Still Drink Sodas

Teens still drink sodas.
That's the bottom line, even after all the soda hoopla.
There's a new study about schools that have limited sales of soda and other sugary beverages on campus.
It says that teens drink just as many sodas as they ever did, and in fact, just as many as the students in schools without any soda restrictions.

Not surprising, but Interestingly enough, students who were subjected to some kind of sugar-sweetened beverage ban at school were actually more likely to consume sugary drinks on a daily basis.

The French Fat Tax

France is next on the list to impose fat tax on sugary sodas such as Coca-Cola...

This new tax will add just over 1p to a can of sodas such as Coca-Cola.


French officials want to impose a 'fat tax' on sugary soft drinks because they believe this will somehow stop child obesity.

The diet, zero-calorie 'diet' drinks will be exempt from the charges.

It's interesting, the revenue isn't for any nutritional programs, instead to fund lower social security charges for farm workers.

The move comes days after France also announced it would be rationing tomato ketchup and salt in school cafeterias.



Under the rules, tomato sauce and mayonnaise will only be on dinner tables once a week when fries are served and would be removed when traditional French dishes are being served.



So, the French government is now obsessed with what they determine to be excessive weight gain and are targeting sugary drinks, and the evil mayonnaise and ketchup.

Soda Pop, oops, we mean SODA POT

Clay Butler, (above photo) doesn't do drugs, doesn't smoke and appears to be as pure as the driven snow plans on marketing Canna Cola, a soft drink that contains THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana

His plan is to sell them at medical marijuana dispensaries.

Clay is a commercial artist who says, "I don't do drugs, never have. I never drank, never smoked. I'm a clean-living guy. I've had two beers in my whole life, and I remember them both too. No marijuana, I've never smoked a cigarette. I take an aspirin when I get a headache. That's it."

"Even though, personally, I'm not interested and I don't think it's right for me," says Butler, "I'm a firm believer that adults have an inalienable right to think, eat, smoke, drink, ingest, decorate, dress any way they choose to do so. It's your life; it's your body."

His products will include the cola drink Canna Cola, the Dr Pepper-like Doc Weed, the lemon-lime Sour Diesel, the grape-flavored Grape Ape and the orange-flavored Orange Kush. 

"You look at all the marijuana products out there, and they are so mom-and-pop, hippie-dippy and rinky-dink," he said. "If someone can put every color on the rainbow on it, they do. If they can pick the most inappropriate and unreadable fonts, they will. And there's marijuana leaves on everything. It's a horrible cliché in the industry."

Butler's plan is to market the THC sodas "how Snapple or Coca-Cola or Minute Maid would make a marijuana beverage, if they ever chose to do it."

Thus, he used the marijuana leaf -- it's an unavoidable part of the "brand DNA" of marijuana products, he said -- but he designed a leaf made of bubbles, to suggest soda pop.

The soda's dosage of THC will be "somewhere between 35 to 65 milligrams," with only a

a mild marijuana taste.

The levels of THC in his line of soft drinks will be much lower than many drinks now on the market.

These sodas will sell between $10 and $15 per 12-ounce bottle.

The company plans to launch its product in Colorado in February. 

there are also plans to have it in California dispensaries in the spring.

Japanese beverages you may not know about

Sodas seem to be a popular subject these days and we thought we should include beverages made for the Japanese.
Here is a collection of some Japanese beverages you may not know about:

 Curry and Wasabi Ramune   
Ramune is a popular fruit flavored Japanese soda.
Ramune also makes two strongly flavored sodas: Curry and Wasabi.
The curry flavored Ramune is actually a combination of curry and lemonade flavors.

Fanta Furufuru Shaker

This begins as a semi-gelled beverage, but when you shake it, the Fanta turns into a carbonated drink.

Pepsi White

This Pepsi blends the taste of cola with the creaminess and flavor of yogurt.

Coolpis Kimchi
 Fermented cabbage and hot peppers, as a Kimchi drink.

Yes, this is Sweet Bean Pepsi.

U.S. Soda Sales Fell - But at Slower Rate

After all the bad press about drinking soda you might think there would be this amazing drop in sales, right?
Well there was a drop in U.S.soft-drink sales, but the drop was less than previous years, as consumers switched from expensive juices and teas and back to less-expensive soda.
Soft-drink sales fell 2.1% in 2009, compared with a 3% decline in 2008 and a 2.3% drop in 2007, according to Beverage Digest, an industry publication and data service that tracks soft-drink sales in supermarkets and other retail outlets, vending machines and restaurants.

Soda sales may have fallen for five years in a row, but the fact that the drop in sales has slowed was a bit of good news for the industry.
Coca-Cola was still the best selling soft drink in 2009, but its market share fell 0.3 percentage point to 17%.
After years as the third most-popular soda, Diet Coke reached a near tie with Pepsi-Cola for the No. 2 spot, with 936.3 million and 936.4 million cases respectively. Diet Coke and Pepsi-Cola both scored a 9.9% market share last year.
Among the top 10 soda brands, only Diet Mountain Dew, marketed by PepsiCo Inc., and Diet Dr Pepper posted growth.
Bottled-water sales have declined two yearsr in a row, after a decade of great sales.
However, Nestlé Pure Life, a line of water you'll find in retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., enjoyed a 14.6% increase in volume.

NYC Department of Health Anti-Soda Campaign

The Department of Health in New York City has released a YouTube commercial with the intention of horrifying people.
New York's attempts to fight calories has now been reduced to the drinking of human fat out of a soda can.
The city's "Don't drink yourself fat" campaign is just one of many promoting healthier lifestyles for the area's millions of residents.
"Sugary drinks shouldn't be a part of our everyday diets," said Dr. Thomas Farley, New York City Health Commissioner. "This video is playful, but its message is serious."
Sorry Department of Health people, we think your video is stupid sensationalism.
We guess Dr. Farley, has given up trying to educate people about food options, choosing instead to be disgusting and revolting.