In a recent FindLaw article, Cornell Law School Professor Sherry Colb addresses whether New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to prevent food stamp recipients from buying sugar-sweetened sodas and beverages violates any constitutional proscriptions. Titled “No Buying Soda with Food Stamps? Considering Mayor Bloomberg’s New Health Initiative,” Colb’s article concludes that arguments about equal treatment for the poor and consumer freedom in general hold no weight given the overwhelming risks to public health posed by “unhealthy, empty-calorie food.” She expresses confidence that food stamp recipients will experience measurable benefits by avoiding some unhealthy foods, which will convince public officials to expand such initiatives “to take on various industries that profit at the expense of human health.” Meanwhile, a New York Times article discusses what prompted a writer and former Rutgers professor to begin the “Candy Professor” blog, which apparently “dives deep into the American relationship with candy, finding irrational and…
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The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance has approved and submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) a New York City proposal “to exclude sugar-sweetened beverages, the largest single contributor to the obesity epidemic, from the list of allowable purchases through the nation’s food stamp program (also known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP),” according to an October 7, 2010, press release. Unveiled by Governor David Paterson (D) and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), the initiative would prohibit the city’s food stamp users from buying soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages for up to two years while researchers study the ban’s impact. If accepted by USDA, the plan would define sugar-sweetened beverages “as those containing more than 10 calories per 8 ounces (except fruit juices without added sugar, milk products and milk substitutes).” It would also provide for “a rigorous evaluation . . .…
A recent study has purportedly linked consumption of carbonated diet sodas with an increased risk of premature birth. Thorhallur Halldorsson, et al., “Intake of artificially sweetened soft drinks and risk of preterm delivery: a prospective cohort study of 59,334 Danish pregnant women,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 30, 2010. Researchers evaluated data from approximately 60,000 pregnancies tracked in Denmark between 1996 and 2002. According to the study, women in the middle of their pregnancies who drank at least one diet soft drink daily were 38 percent more likely to have a premature baby before 37 weeks of pregnancy than those who abstained. In addition, women who drank at least four such products per day were at a 78 percent risk of early delivery. The researchers claimed that “no association was observed for sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drinks or for sugar-sweetened noncarbonated soft drinks” and suggested that more studies are needed…
Senators Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have issued a report, “Summertime Blues,” in which they provide information about “100 stimulus projects that give taxpayers the blues.” Among the projects is a $521,000 grant to the University of Illinois to study whether taxes on soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages can affect the incidence of obesity. According to the senators, “While it is hard to disagree that soda and other sugary drinks are contributing factors to the national obesity epidemic, it is easy to disagree whether federal dollars should be used to study the relationship between taxes and obesity.” In a related development, the CEO of a nonprofit foundation writing in The Hill’s “Pundits Blog,” called the District of Columbia’s decision to take a “soda tax” off the table “an unfortunate mistake.” Kathy Kemper opines that the proposal “would take our capital city far in reducing sugar consumption among…
