Appeals Court Strikes Down Bloomberg’s Supersized Sugary Drinks Ban

It looks like supersized sugary drinks in New York City are staying on the menu.

In a unanimous opinion, an appeals court upheld a lower court’s decision today, saying the Board of Health’s plan to put a 16-ounce limit on sugary drinks was an illegal overreach of executive power.

The four-judge panel of the state Supreme Court Appellate Division said the Board of Health was acting too much like a legislative body when it created the ban and said it didn’t believe sugary drinks were “inherently harmful.”

The judges also said the board appeared to have created much of the new rules on political or economic considerations, rather than health concerns.

The decision brought a swift response from Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In a statement, he called the ruling “a temporary setback.”

“We plan to appeal this decision as we continue the fight against the obesity epidemic,” he said.

The mayor added that obesity and type 2 diabetes are clearly linked to the consumption of sugary drinks and said since the ban was halted in March, “more than 2,000 New Yorkers have died from the effects of diabetes.”

Read more to CBS 2 NY.

{Matzav.com Newscenter}