Following a May 2016 refusal to invalidate a San Francisco regulation requiring warning labels on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), a California court has granted an injunction on enforcement pending appeal. Am. Beverage Ass’n v. City of San Francisco, No. 15-3415 (N.D. Cal., order entered June 7, 2016). Details on the May 2016 decision appear in Issue 605 of this Update, while additional information on the lawsuit appears in Issues 573, 586 and 592. The ordinance, set to take effect July 25, 2016, requires billboards and other public advertisements to include a warning that “[d]rinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay.” The American Beverage Association (ABA) challenged the regulation on First Amendment grounds, but the court denied a preliminary injunction, finding the industry group’s claims unlikely to succeed. “[A]n injunction pending appeal may be appropriate, even if the Court believed its analysis in denying preliminary injunctive relief is…
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The Philadelphia City Council Committee of the Whole has backed a 1.5 cents per-ounce tax on sugar-added and artificially sweetened soft drinks, a measure that the council anticipates will raise $91 million over the next year. If approved by final vote as expected, the tax will “fund quality pre-K expansion, community schools, reinvestment in parks and recreation centers, and help pad the City’s General Fund,” according to a June 8, 2016, press release. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney (D) initially proposed a 3-cents-per-ounce levy on sugar-sweetened beverages, but the council concluded that such an increase would raise more revenue than needed. Instead, the committee opted to reduce the tax to 1.5 cents per ounce while expanding the scope to include diet soft drinks. The council also advanced a bill “offering tax credits to merchants that opt to sell healthy beverages in their stores.” “A 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax increase on soft drinks will…
A California federal court has denied the American Beverage Association’s (ABA’s) attempt to preliminarily enjoin the enforcement of a law requiring manufacturers of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) to provide a warning about the alleged health risks associated with SSB consumption. Am. Beverage Ass’n v. City of San Francisco, No. 15-3415 (N.D. Cal., order entered May 17, 2016). Further details about the lawsuit appear in Issues 573, 586 and 592 of this Update. The court first assessed the ABA’s argument that the law would burden noncommercial speech in addition to regulating commercial speech, which would trigger the highest level of scrutiny. ABA members’ communications to consumers are not limited to commercial speech, the organization argued, because they also publicize other messages, such as promotion for the Pride Parade and the Chinese New Year’s Festival. The court disagreed, finding the amount of noncommercial speech affected was not substantial. The court then reviewed whether…
New research claims that the daily consumption of artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) during pregnancy is associated with increased infant body mass index (BMI). Meghan Azad, et al., “Association Between Artificially Sweetened Beverage Consumption During Pregnancy and Infant Body Mass Index,” JAMA Pediatrics, May 2016. Using food-frequency questionnaire data from 3,033 mother-infant dyads enrolled in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study, researchers reportedly determined that, when compared to children whose mothers did not consume ASBs during pregnancy, those born to the 5.1 percent of mothers who imbibed ASBs daily were twice as likely to be overweight at age 1. “Infant birth weight was not affected, suggesting that maternal ASB consumption influenced postnatal weight gain rather than fetal growth,” explain the study authors. “These associations were independent of material BMI, diabetes, total energy intake, diet quality, and other known obesity risk factors. No comparable associations were identified for SSB [sugar-sweetened…
Healthy Boulder Kids has submitted to the city of Boulder, Colorado, a draft initiative that would impose on distributors a 2-cent per ounce excise tax on beverages that contain at least 5 grams of sweeteners per 12 fluid ounces. Pending review and approval by the city clerk, the public health coalition would then have until June 28, 2016, to collect the requisite number of signatures to get the measure on the November ballot. Revenue from the proposed tax would reportedly be directed to health and nutrition programs aimed especially at low-income residents of the Boulder community. See Boulder Daily Camera, April 21, 2016. Issue 601
The U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has announced a new levy on soft drink companies to be assessed “on the volume of sugar-sweetened drinks they produce or import.” In a budget presentation before Parliament, Osborne laid out a two-tiered tax scheme slated to take effect in April 2018, “to give companies plenty of space to change their product mix.” Under the levy, which exempts milk-based drinks and fruit juices, sugar-sweetened beverages will fall into one band with “a total sugar content above 5 grams per 100 milliliters,” or “a second, higher band for the most sugary drinks with more than 8 grams per 100 milliliters.” The U.K. Office for Budget Responsibility apparently anticipates that the levy will raise an estimated £520 million for increased sport funding in primary schools. “Many in the soft drinks industry recognize there’s a problem and have started to reformulate their products… So industry can…
The Canadian Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology has issued a “groundbreaking” report on obesity that calls for a tax on sugar- and artificially-sweetened beverages as well as a ban on advertising food and drink to children. Titled Obesity in Canada: A Whole-of-Society Approach for a Healthier Canada, the March 2016 report also recommends, among other things, (i) “a National Campaign to Combat Obesity,” (ii) “a complete revision of Canada’s food guide to better reflect scientific evidence,” (iii) “a review of nutrition food labelling to make it easier to understand,” and (iv) “a plan for making healthy food more affordable.” “Canada’s dated food guide is no longer effective in providing nutritional guidance to Canadians. Fruit juice, for instance, is presented as a healthy item when it is little more than a soft drink without the bubbles,” notes the report, which summarizes expert testimony given before the committee…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released the latest statistics on sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption in 23 states and the District of Columbia, concluding that, in 2013, approximately 30 percent of surveyed adults reported drinking at least one SSB per day. Sohyun Park, et al., “Prevalence of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake Among Adults—23 States and the District of Columbia, 2013,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Feb. 26, 2016. Relying on data gathered via Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) telephone survey, the study refined previous questionnaires to solicit information about the consumption of sweet tea and energy drinks in addition to regular soda and sweetened fruit beverages. The results evidently indicate that “at least once daily SSB intake was most common among persons aged 18–24 years (43.3%), men (34.1%), blacks (39.9%), persons who reported being unemployed (34.4%), and persons with less than a high school education (42.4%).” Across…
The Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA) has filed an amicus brief in a case challenging San Francisco’s health code provisions requiring advertisements on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) notifying the public of alleged health risks associated with SSB consumption. Am. Beverage Ass’n v. City of San Francisco, No. 15-3415 (N.D. Cal., amicus brief filed January 22, 2016). The brief focuses on First Amendment arguments against requiring private parties to include government speech on their product labels. “The City of San Francisco’s imposition of the Warning Mandate in reaction to potential over-consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages by its citizens, whatever the merits of that concern, takes regulatory Nannyism to new levels and is wholly incompatible with First Amendment protections afforded to commercial speech,” the brief argues. “If this Court were to uphold the Board of Supervisors’ conscription of sugar-sweetened beverage ads to convey government views on health issues there would be virtually no limit to…
The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO) has issued a January 25, 2016, report that recommends, among other things, a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), context-specific dietary guidelines, and “interpretive” front-of-pack labeling. Taking “a life-course approach” that focuses on what it describes as an obesogenic environment, the report urges WHO, member governments and non-state actors to implement specific action items designed to (i) promote intake of healthy foods and reduce intake of unhealthy foods and SSBs among children; (ii) promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviors; (iii) provide guidance on preconception and antenatal care to reduce the risk of childhood obesity; (iv) support healthy diet, sleep and physical activity during childhood; (v) promote healthy school environments, health and nutrition literacy; and (vi) provide family-based lifestyle weight management services. In particular, ECHO singles out food and beverage marketing as “a major issue demanding change that will protect…
