I tried. I really tried to stay away from this whole banning of large sodas to save us from ourselves topic. But I just read this morning that Cambridge, MA has also jumped into the mix along with New York City. Some of you might remember my “No More Toys” post which covered a municipality out west that decided to ban toys from kids meals at quick serve restaurants to solve childhood obesity. I put this newest ban right up there with that one. If the government feels it must get involved, instead of banning these products, wouldn’t it be a much better option to simply make public the number of calories in those drinks? From there let the consumer decide if they still want that much. My guess is if some folks new there are around 380 calories in a 32 ounce, non-diet fountain drink, they might think twice. Even better, post how many minutes of walking it would take to burn off those calories. Personally, I think it’s always better to educate rather than take something away. Think about a parent teaching their kids stuff. They didn’t take away the scissors never to be used again. Instead they would say “little Johnny, you should not run with scissors because you might fall on them and hurt yourself”. If they simply took the scissors away, think of all the paper cut out snowflakes that we’d never get to enjoy.
I guess the scarier thought is, if they do ban large sodas, what’s next? Donuts, large popcorn, desserts…the list of high calorie items goes on and on. It is a dangerous path being taken here. Yes, there is an obesity issue, but there must be a better way to deal with it than taking away our scissors. Educate, promote healthier options and list the calories come to mind. Okay, enough said on this topic. I promise the next post will be what you come here for which is to learn all about food packaging.
Until next time…
I agree with you 100%. I’m not sure that I did initially when it was first talked about, but you make a lot of sense regarding “what comes next?” Education is the key and let people make their own choices. Showing just the calories isn’t enough, however, the idea of mentioning how many minutes of walking it would take to get rid of those calories makes it more relate-able….I think that’s a fantastic idea. Of course we all know donuts and desserts are fattening, but to reminded of what it’ll take to get rid of those calories would definitely make me think twice….most of the time, anyway! Depends what kind of donuts we’re talking about!