The Center for Science in the Public Interest and others want New York to require labels on sugary drinks to warn consumers about the dangers of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.
Speaking this week to New York state lawmakers, Columbia professor Sharon Akabas said that New York could set a national trend by mandating warning labels on sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages.California lawmakers defeated a similar proposal last year.
Jeff Stier, a New York-based policy analyst for the National Center for Public Policy Research, calls that a bad example of "so-called public health groups" flailing in their attempt to fight obesity.
"They've tried, as Mayor Bloomberg did, to ban sodas. They've tried sugar taxes," observes Stier. "The public is against them."
Meanwhile, national soda sales fell again last year for the tenth straight year.
Stier says obesity can't be conquered "with warning labels, taxes, regulations."
A little education might be appropriate from the government, he observes, adding however that warning labels on sugary beverages don't make much sense. He points out that warning labels on cigarettes have little effect on smokers.
"The activist groups like the Center for Science in the Public Interest want us to believe that the sugary drinks are like tobacco," the analyst tells OneNewsNow. "They say in their press release that there is no nutritional benefit to sugary drinks, so why not? And that's the idea, 'Why not? There is no benefit to these products.'"
The press release Stier was referring to can be read here.
Sometimes people like enjoying their food or drink, even if it doesn't serve a nutritional benefit, yet it appears to Stier that some people don't want you to enjoy it.
"They want to take the fun out of drinking a soda," Stier observes.