Mayor Plans To Ban Coke, Pepsi, all soft drinks and sweet drinks... (Page 2)

Serabi
Serabi: Big Brother is watching you! Now he wants total control of you as well. (Body size, lung health, bubbly, fizzy nose burns, etc.)

The alcohol issue has always bugged me, Cigarette smoking is under all out warfare here. The money spent on advertising, committees, etc. to demolish the tobacco industry is astounding. Alcohol gets a passing mention, bottle stores even get more trading hours now. The call goes out:- please don't drink so much - pretty, pretty please?

Carbonated drinks have not been mentioned in SA.
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Magz Rides Again
Magz Rides Again: It's just so ridiculous because the gov't gets so much money from the alcohol industry and from gambling. As you say Serabi, they say..."please don't drink so much - pretty, pretty please?" yet allow so much advertising and sponsorship deals to alcohol companies and gambling companies, yet focus on the tobacco industry and (I guess you'd call it) the sugar industry.

I remember when Victorians used to have to travel interstate to go to casinos and use poker machines AND you had to be over 21. (I'm still only 45 - so technically not that old).
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lavendar_star
lavendar_star: I agree with the issue of alcohol (they still advertise it on TV and companies advertise with sports teams etc), less so tobacco as they having continually restricted it and increasing the prices in the UK, which is why tobacco companies have moved to countries in Africa and South America. However, America does have a serious crisis with obesity. In both the UK and the US the top 3 killers are Tobacco, Obesity then alcohol related to preventable causes of death.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/04/smoking-high-blood-pressure-and-being-overweight-top-three-preventable-causes-of-death-in-the-us

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7946290.stm

Alcohol abuse i.e binge drinking/ abuse has causes significant issues with violent crime, anti social behaviour and abuse within the home but this does not lessen the harm that fizzy drinks, sugar especially and other fast food is causing in the UK or the US, it shouldn't be ignored because there is a problem elsewhere.


" Perhaps unsurprisingly, a chunk of that excess weight is found in North America: We account for about a third of global obesity but just 6% of population. [12] Roberts and his team found that, despite accounting for only 6% of the global population, North America was single-handedly responsible for a third of the world's obesity. Compare that with Asia: 61% of the global population, but only 13% of its obesity. [13]

Obesity caused 3.9 million tons of that total, the equivalent of 56 million average-sized people. Even more concerning: North America accounts for 6% of the world's population but 34% of it's total mass. [14] North America has only 6% of the world's population but 34% of the world's biomass mass due to obesity. [1] Perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority of the overweight and obesity (and associated overconsumption) is concentrated in North America. The continent houses 6 percent of the world's population, but 34 percent of its biomass. Translation: North Americans are consuming way more than their fair share of resources to maintain their largemass. [3]" http://newsfeedresearcher.com/data/articles_m25_2/people-weight-population.html

So even though I think the issue of alcohol is equally as important and I dont agree with this proposal by the Mayor, America if not already is on a health time bomb if they dont sort out their obesity crisis as with the UK, even though America is far more fat friendly then it is in the UK.
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Barbara the Jew
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Barbara the Jew
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dave3974
dave3974: Loooks like a great idea to ban this sugary rubbish that verges onn toxic, the manufacturers of these sugary chemical mix deserve no sympathy . they are happy to target children to boost their profits -they are no better thasn drug pushers
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Comrade_
Comrade_: Another restriction.

The Age of banning things because some people can't be responsible on their own..
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dave3974
dave3974: sugar is not banned fill your boots
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Barbara the Jew
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Nicotina2
Nicotina2: The government already controls most of what people consume. This control is more easily seen. It might be a better idea to get rid of high fructous corn syrup and the like.
Sugar in moderation. I don't drink soda on a regular basis and never drink diet drinks.
If you'd like something fizzy then mix some juice (100% juice) with some carbonated water.
Heck of a lot better than the sugary crap.
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Serabi
Serabi: I don't think what is being banned is the issue, the fact that 'Big Brother' takes it upon himself to dictate what you may or may not eat or drink is frightening! I do not include illegal substances in this statement.
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Nicotina2
Nicotina2: Big Brother already does though. What do you think the FDA is?
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LiptonCambell
LiptonCambell: Doesn't pop use sweetener extracted from corn, since corn is subsided and inexpensive?

So we pay taxes to support corn-farmers. The government pays these farmers more money than their crop is actually worth, and turns around and sells it for less than they pay for.

Then the Soda industry(among other industries) make use of these inexpensive corn to sweeten their drinks.....but now we have taxes to increase the costs of these pops to discourage people from buying them?

Huh? So we're paying taxes to keep it cheap, then we're paying even more taxes to make it expensive again?

Does any of that make any sense to anyone?
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Nicotina2
Nicotina2: It's called "high fructose corn syrup" and generally comes from GMF.
Scary stuff. Better off to consume sugar.
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Hyenablood
Hyenablood: maybe instead of going after the everyday citizens, the city officials should go after the company that puts so much sugar in the drink to start with. Get the company to cut the sugar amount in half or more, and problem solved.
Plus what about candy ? it's got loads of sugar on it, in it and around it. Ban all candy, and start looking at the supermarkets, lots of food products has sugar in it, start reading those labels and tell the company to stop it, or simple ban all bad food from the local markets.
That way you can be sure that anywhere a person goes in the city, there will be less sugar and more healthy food waiting for them. Get on it city officials.
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Sarcastic Dots
Sarcastic Dots: I doubt a mayor can take on the candy industry, an industry that freely exploits children in war torn nations. That's a whole other topic though.

On topic: I'm not really adverse to limiting the size of horrendously large drinks, just like I'm not adverse to limiting the amount of paracetamol pills over the counter. Yeah, I realise it's a total straw man argument, but I can't really envision a reason why you need a Big Gulp other than to slowly--actually,quickly--destroy your insides.

An outright ban on anything never works. Ever. I really can't point to a time, outside of criminalising opium--that has actually improved the situation.

I don't think we're approaching an Orwellian dystopia though. As provocative as 1984 is, I see us creeping towards Huxley's vision of political apathy caused by socially irrelevant activities, if anything. Again, a debate for another topic.
(Edited by Sarcastic Dots)
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unicorn1
unicorn1: Food education. Get them while they're young. My kid whos ten, now refers differenciates between "food" and "crap".....the food she eats, the "crap" is a once a day treat, and shes very well aware of why its considered crap. It's not banned from her, its not restricted...she just knows the difference. I really think its the only way.....people don't respond well to being told "no".
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Hyenablood
Hyenablood: great for her, but there are far more kids out there that eat junk food and drink soft drinks. So your kid is eating heathly, what about all of the other kids and people who are putting a strain on the health care system ? already the experts are seeing health problems skyrocket.
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LiptonCambell
LiptonCambell: When is anything in excess good for you Hyena?

Ultimately, a persons diet should be determined by the individual- or, in the case of children, their parents are responsible for making these decisions for their family. Not Coca Cola or Pepsi.

Not to mention that the law in question isn't directed at children at all- there is nothing about banning soft drinks FROM CHILDREN- rather, its about banning soft drinks FROM EVERYONE.
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Stassi SUR
(Post deleted by Stassi SUR 11 years ago)
Sarcastic Dots
Sarcastic Dots: You know, if it bugs you so much, you can just buy two doughnuts. It's removing the single, larger portion from the menu, but it isn't removing the choice to eat or drink more-- if that's what you're referring to.
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Stassi SUR
(Post deleted by Stassi SUR 11 years ago)
dave3974
dave3974: salve you getting hysterical , tv`s are save, but the rubbish sold as food and drink needs attention , we will no see the awul power of the food giants like coca cola prevent any sense though
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Stassi SUR
(Post deleted by Stassi SUR 11 years ago)
Serabi
Serabi: The must difficult task is to save an idiot from himself!
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