This past summer, new legislation was approved by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors and Mayor Ed Lee to display warning labels on advertisements for sugary beverages sold in San Francisco. The health warnings indicate that drinking beverages with added sugars contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay. The new health warning labels are to be displayed on ads for sugar-sweetened beverages with 25 Calories or more per 12 ounces. This means billboards and taxi-cab ads for sugary drinks will now include warning labels similar to those found on cigarette boxes. This landmark proposed legislation is the first of its kind in the US.
In advance of this new legislation, UC San Francisco and San Francisco General Hospital both previously announced a plan to stop selling sugar sweetened drinks on their campuses and hospitals. In November 2014, UCSF launched the “SugarScience Initiative” to inform the public about the health impacts of sugar. In May 2015, UCSF launched its Healthy Beverage Initiative and San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center announced its participation in the Healthy Beverage Initiative in June 2015. At the same time, San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center began stopping the sales of sugar sweetened beverages on its hospital campus. A few weeks later on July 1, 2015, UCSF began phasing out the sale of sugar sweetened beverages and phasing in the sale of zero-calorie drinks or non-sweetened drinks that have nutritional value, such as 100% juice and milk, on their campuses.
Image Source: Justin Sullivan
Sugary drinks have long been linked to various health problems, such as obesity and diabetes. Of particular concern is the rising number of children being diagnosed with type II diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Both of these conditions are associated with high sugar consumption. Type II diabetes was very rare in children twenty years ago, but today, more than 13,000 children are diagnosed with the disease each year in the US. Beverages like soda and fruit juice often contain high amounts of added sugars, and should be consumed infrequently, if not avoided altogether.
This new legislation follows previous attempts by San Francisco to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks. Last November, San Francisco proposed a tax on sugary beverages in the city, but the measure only garnered 56% of support from voters and fell short of the two-thirds majority vote required to pass. Last fall, the city of Berkeley successfully passed a similar tax on sugary beverages. With this new proposed legislation, San Francisco hopes to lead the charge to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks and the prevalence of health problems linked with these unhealthy sweet beverages. The next step would be to display health warning labels on all sugary drinks, a measure that will have to be passed through the state legislation.
Featured Image Source: Sugar Cane Gary Stevens
