San Francisco lawmakers advance proposal to require soda warning labels

By Emmett Berg SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A panel of San Francisco lawmakers voted on Monday to advance a package of laws targeting soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages, including what would be the first warning label in the United States. “Drinking beverages with added sugar leads to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. This is a message from the City and County of San Francisco," the proposed warning label on the beverages would read. The proposals, which a panel of three supervisors voted unanimously to forward to the full board for consideration, would ban advertising of sugary drinks on city property and forbid city departments from buying sugar-sweetened beverages. The proposals were billed by Supervisor Eric Mar as “Round Two in the battle against Big Soda” after a proposed 2-cent-per-ounce soda tax failed to pass in San Francisco in 2014. It won the backing of 55 percent of voters, short of the required two-thirds. “Our youth deserve to grow up where they are exposed to messages that promote health, not exposed to messages that promote harmful substances,” Supervisor Malia Cohen said, noting that African-American children tend to see almost twice as many ads promoting sugary beverages than white children. U.S. public health advocates have clamored for ways to reduce consumption of sugary drinks and junk food, but lawmakers and voters have generally opposed enacting taxes or other regulations. In California, Berkeley last year approved the first U.S. ballot measure to tax sugary soft drinks, while Illinois lawmakers rejected a soda tax measure. An effort by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to ban large sugary drink sizes was thwarted by a legal challenge. Lisa Katic, a representative of the American Beverage Association, told the San Francisco panel that “important facts were missing from their discussion” on the sources of obesity, such as inactivity, genetics and overconsumption of food items like pizza and burgers. “When we get into warning collective audiences of people, it’s ineffective,” Katic said. “People are tired of being told what they can’t do and can’t have.” There was no immediate word on when the full board might act on the proposal. (Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Mohammad Zargham)