Michael Bloomberg ‘s controversial ban on large, sugary sodas <\/a><\/span>hit a wall Monday when a judge shredded nearly every legal argument and tossed the regulation out the window. The rule would have banned sales of sugary sodas larger than 16 ounces by restaurants, movie theaters, pushcarts and sports arenas. <\/p>\nManhattan Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling dismissed the rule as \u201carbitrary and capricious,\u201d with too many loopholes and exemptions, siding with soda companies and business groups that had taken the city to court. In his 37-page decision, Justice Tingling pointed out that the ban would have applied only to food-serving businesses regulated by the city, such as restaurants and movie theaters, and not to state-regulated establishments, like 7-Eleven stores. He also pointed out that it would have applied to some sweetened drinks, such as sodas, but not others. Milkshakes, for example, would have been exempt. \u201cThe loopholes in this rule effectively defeat the stated purpose of the rule,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n
The judge noted that the city agency had no authority to issue it. Only the City Council had that power, he said. \u201cOne of the fundamental tenets of democratic governance here in New York, as well as throughout the nation, is the separation of powers. . . . No one person, agency, department or branch is above or beyond this,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n
Bloomberg, who was attempting to address the rising tide of obesity, vowed to appeal. But across the city, restaurant owners who had denounced the regulation as intrusive and costly – buying new soda glasses, and updating signs and menus – rejoiced.<\/p>\n
So big gulp drinks live another day. The judge\u2019s points make sense. The ban didn\u2019t completely wipe out sugar \u2013 which I\u2019m not sure was the intent. I assumed it would be a gradual change in behavior. Also as a new ban, I\u2019m not surprised there were some flaws. I do think this ban \u2013 although not passed this go \u2018round \u2013 will not be the last of its kind. The same concerns exist, and now that this has received national attention, I predict that it will return with even more steam.<\/p>\n
Drink up!<\/p>\n
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Say it ain\u2019t so. The big gulp drinkers were able to win a battle. Michael Bloomberg ‘s controversial ban on large, sugary sodas hit a wall Monday when a judge shredded nearly every legal argument […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[167,451,501,899,922],"class_list":["post-165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bloomberg","tag-food","tag-government","tag-new-york","tag-nyc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7qLKy-2F","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohsodj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohsodj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohsodj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohsodj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohsodj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohsodj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohsodj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohsodj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohsodj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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