Starbucks balks at NYC sugary drink ban

[Hum]

The coffee giant Starbucks says it won?t immediately comply with the ban on large sugary drinks set to go in effect next week in New York City, citing ongoing legal attempts to overturn the regulation and the company?s belief that most of its products are not subject to the ban.

The coffee chain?s announcement comes amid criticism from restaurants, bars, movie theaters, bodegas and others subject to the law. City officials haven?t fully explained how the regulation, set to go into effect March 12, will be enforced.

?We believe that the majority of our products fall outside of the ban given the ability of our customers to customize their beverage,? Starbucks said in a statement to Yahoo News. ?As there is still ongoing litigation regarding the regulation, we?re not making any immediate changes at this time. We are evaluating which changes we may need to make to our recipes and product offerings and will be using this three-month evaluation period to make the appropriate changes for our customers and to fully comply with the new beverage restrictions.?

Championed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a way to fight the city's growing obesity epidemic, the new regulation limits the sale of sugary beverages including nondiet sodas, fruit drinks, sweetened teas and other high-calorie drinks to just 16 ounces. The ban does not cover drinks that are more than 50 percent milk?a rule Starbucks believes exempts its popular Frappuccino drink, which has been criticized by health advocates for its high sugar content.

more

[Torolol]

so why not, taxing high calories sweeteners more instead,

and reducing tax for known non-dangerous low/no-calories sweeteners?

[Buttus]

people need to realize that processed sugar is horrible for your health, but making a law to ban it? i dunno...

maybe taxing it more like Torolol said is better

[FloatingFatMan]

Ban it or tax it, people will still whine about it.

And the companies serving it will NEVER shut up as they make far more profit from the larger drinks than the smaller ones. You cannot trust them a millimeter when it comes to "looking after consumer interests".

[Hum]

Sugar is not the fattening agent --- high fat foods are.

[FloatingFatMan]

If they want to do good by banning something, ban High Fructose Corn Syrup. Nip the problem in the bud, directly at the source, and force the manufacturers to use less damaging alternatives. It'll do wonders for food/drink flavours, too.

[xpablo]

Bloomberg is a communist! The dictator of New York telling people what they can and can't drink!

America is slowly becoming a communist country.

[BajiRav]

Bloomberg is a communist! The dictator of New York telling people what they can and can't drink!

America is slowly becoming a communist country.

well capitalism doesn't seem to be working, so why not try something else? :p

[Charisma Veteran]

Sugar is not the fattening agent --- high fat foods are.

Lies. Eating fat actually doesn't make you fat--not if it isn't in extreme excess. True story. Sugar/HFCS is the number one factor in the US obesity problem.

Anyway, yeah. I'd think the cost of Starbucks' beverages would be enough to limit most people on these--not at all in the same league as fizzy drinks.

[Chasethebase Veteran]

This article does seem a little over-dramatised, basically what Starbucks have said is that they're going to wait until they know what the new law explicitly covers and get some statistics and figures, then they'll compare these to their current beverage offering and adjust it as necessary.

The most likely effect is the standard beverages will remain the same, but there will be a limit of additions you can have, I know that the till can support 16 shots of espresso in a drink, doesn't mean that you'll get served it though. ;)

[Hum]

Lies. Eating fat actually doesn't make you fat--not if it isn't in extreme excess. True story. Sugar/HFCS is the number one factor in the US obesity problem.

OK --- I challenge you to consume nothing but some sugary drink for a week -- all you want.

Tell me how much you 'gained'. :laugh: Odds are you'll lose weight.

[FATILA]

Eh... of course sugar gains weight.. don't think I've seen anyone deny that until now :wacko:

[Charisma Veteran]

OK --- I challenge you to consume nothing but some sugary drink for a week -- all you want.

Tell me how much you 'gained'. :laugh: Odds are you'll lose weight.

I don't drink that mess at all--certainly not in excess. Everything in moderation :p

Eating only fat will not make you any more or less fat than doing that. Malnourishment would still be the same concern :p But I bet you'd gain more/lose less weight on the fat than the sugar.

[Hum]

^ I know that I could never drink enuff soda to gain weight. :laugh:

These 'researchers' and sugar haters are not looking at what people eat, along with the soda.

Cheeseburgers, potato chips, hot dogs, pizza, high fat foods.

Then they blame it all on the 'evil' sugar.

[Growled Member]

Starbucks might not want to accept it, but when the new law goes into effect it will affect them too. They better get ready.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Sugar is not the fattening agent --- high fat foods are.

Well I've been doing a "low" carb thing since May 2012 and i'm going to have to disagree. While I don't cut carbs out all together and I still eat bread, I have given up, Potato,Pasta and RICE! Hell I eat lots of cheese on Pepperoni slices for a snack at night.

[remixedcat]

Sugar can be burnt off HFCS can't so easily.

Lots of people are dumbasses and can't tell the difference.

http://www.fitsugar.com/High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup-vs-Sugar-2636801

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57561593/fructose-changes-brain-to-cause-overeating-scientists-say/

[Growled Member]

Well I've been doing a "low" carb thing since May 2012 and i'm going to have to disagree. While I don't cut carbs out all together and I still eat bread, I have given up, Potato,Pasta and RICE! Hell I eat lots of cheese on Pepperoni slices for a snack at night.

I've been doing the low carbs thing since the first of the year and I can really tell the difference already.

[SierraSonic]

Well I've been doing a "low" carb thing since May 2012 and i'm going to have to disagree. While I don't cut carbs out all together and I still eat bread, I have given up, Potato,Pasta and RICE! Hell I eat lots of cheese on Pepperoni slices for a snack at night.

I did the low carb thing, and I can say that if you cut them out all together, you will see drastic results. I gave up the diet actually, lost a lot of weight, never felt healthy. Since quitting I did regain some weight, all with the same amount of exercise.

[+Red King Subscriber²]

Guys it is a minimal almost do-nothing legislation for your own health and the health of idiots around you.

This is the best you can get from US government.

[einsteinbqat]

Sugar is not the fattening agent --- high fat foods are.

Wrong. Excess glucose (sugar) is transformed by the liver into fat. In medicine, this process is part of the lipogenesis.

[Mr. Gibs]

Rather than banning sugary drinks we should ban HFCS. It's worse than sugar and thanks to lobbying its all you can get in the US...

[Rippleman]

OK --- I challenge you to consume nothing but some sugary drink for a week -- all you want.

Tell me how much you 'gained'. :laugh: Odds are you'll lose weight.

i drink alot of soda. I drink diet soda becasue if I switch to regular soda I gain 5lbs a week. Tried it 3X and same result each time.

[RiverCampher]

I used to have 2 sugars in tea, and have coffee with condensed milk but migrated long ago to good quality (not the watered down stuff!) skimmed milk with zero sugars. Tried sugared tea (by accident) the other day and was horrible. For anyone who wants to move down, just do it slowly to one sugar and buy good quality skimmed milk (not the cheapest).

It's clear that society isn't moving well with the times on the health front. Since the government should do what's in the best interests of the people, a ban or a heavy tax on fatty/salty/sugared foods would be a good move.

[vcfan]

sugar doesn't make you fat. that's the stupidest thing ive ever heard. over consumption makes you fat. sugar doesn't even contain a lot of calories. you can sit there all day and eat nothing but lean chicken breasts and veggies and still gain fat,and become diabetic.

just because diabetics cant eat sugar doesn't mean sugar causes diabetes.