Longmont City Council advances 'Healthy Beverages for Children's Meals' ordinance

Aug. 25—An ordinance that could make a healthy drink option the default for children's meals in local restaurants and cafés took another step Tuesday night toward becoming reality when Longmont City Council members unanimously approved it during a first reading.

The "Healthy Beverages for Children's Meals," proposal will now advance toward a second reading and final vote on Sept. 14.

Residents who spoke in opposition to the ordinance Tuesday agreed that sugary drinks cause negative health consequences, but believed that it was not the job of city leaders to intervene.

The "Healthy Beverages for Children's Meals" ordinance would put into place a requirement that restaurants and cafés serving children's meals make healthy choices the preferred options. A healthy beverage is defined in the ordinance as "still water or sparkling water with no added sugar, or dairy milk or nondairy milk substitutes with no added sugar."

The ordinance would not impede on customers' ability to order a different beverage or the restaurant's ability to sell them a different option. A parent, guardian or other adult buying the meal could still order a soda or sugar-sweetened drink for the child instead.

During the meeting, three residents voiced their opposition.

Greg Harris said he doesn't believe "good intentions justify government overreach."

"While it's great to encourage healthy eating, this is not the responsibility of the City Council," Harris said. "Regulating restaurant menus is outside the scope of city government. We shouldn't micromanage restaurants."

Harris said restaurants have faced enough challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic and that another regulation would be a further burden to them.

If the ordinance goes into effect, the Times-Call reported that the Boulder County Public Health would check for ordinance compliance, while conducting regular inspections. A violation would start with a warning, if the county health agency contacts a Longmont code enforcement officer or police officer to notify the restaurant about a violation.

After the first written warning, another violation could result in a summons for a restaurant representative to appear in Longmont Municipal Court, where the restaurant could face a possible fine of $100, if convicted. If there's another conviction within a 12-month period, it could result in a fine of $200. A third or subsequent violation within a year's time could result in a $500 fine.

Resident Steven Altschuler said he agrees children and adults alike eat too much sugar and don't exercise enough, but like Harris, he said he felt the ordinance was overreach.

"Are we going to stop allowing adults to eat sugar?" Altschuler said. "People also eat too fast. Are we going to make restaurants have counters to count how many chews before they swallow? These are many good ideas, but a lot of these ideas are socialism. I believe in the free market. People can decide what businesses to support and what to eat."

Jeffrey Justice said he shared many of the concerns that were brought up by Altschuler and Harris about the healthy beverages proposal. Rather than an ordinance, he said, education about the negative health consequences of sugary drinks would be a better approach.

"I don't drink sugary drinks," Justice said. "I don't think anyone should drink sugary drinks. I've been health conscious my whole life, but I don't think it's my job or City Council's job to make an ordinance about this."

The meeting on Tuesday, followed city outreach efforts in the form of an online survey on the "Engage Longmont" website. When the June 26 to July 29 survey concluded, it showed 157, or 54%, of the 289 members of the general public who participated in the survey, were not in favor of the proposal.

Those in opposition cited reasons such as: "Parents should be able to make decisions for their kids," and "The city has no right to regulate how people raise their children." While those in favor said, "It is an easy way to promote better health," and could be "a simple way to create big change."

The ordinance is supported by several organizations, including St. Vrain Healthy Kids, Healthy Longmont and Boulder County Public Health.

Before council members make their final vote at the next meeting, there will be a final public hearing. If it is approved as is, the ordinance would go into effect Jan. 3, an effort to allow for time to educate the public about the change.

Longmont City Council members meet in the council chambers, 350 Kimbark St. The meeting's agenda will be available online on the city's website at bit.ly/3mtVNq6.