Proposals to ban purchase of sugary drink with food stamps won't work
The same flaws that caused a New York judge to overturn Mayor Bloomberg's ban on big sugary drinks are inherent in proposals to ban the purchase of sugary drinks using food stamps. Such bans are unlikely to help fight obesity and can do substantial damage to the safety net.
Soft-drink cup sizes are displayed at a news conference at City Hall in New York, May 31, 2012. On March 11, a judge invalidated New York City's plan to ban large sugary drinks from eateries. Op-ed contributor Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach writes of proposals to ban the purchase of sugary drinks with food stamps: 'There are better policy ideas out there that are more likely to the improve diets of food stamp recipients.'
Andrew Burton/Reuters/File
Evanston, Ill.
Monday's court ruling blocking Mayor Bloomberg’s 'soda ban' restored New Yorkers’ freedom to supersize their sugary drinks. The judge reasoned that the rule limiting the size of sugary drinks to be sold at NYC eateries was arbitrary and capricious because it applied to some but not all food establishments, it excludes other beverages with higher concentrations of sweeteners, and because the loopholes in the rule – such as no limits on refills – “serve to gut the purpose of the rule.”
Various proposals to limit soda consumption have been popular among the public health community. Advocates ranging from the Center for Science in the Public Interest to New York Times food writer Mark Bittman are calling for a ban on the purchase of sugar-sweetened beverages with food stamps. Media outlets recently reported health officials in South Carolina are considering requesting permission to implement such a ban. A similar proposal in New York City was recently rejected.
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