The “Big Gulp” is no longer welcome in the Big Apple. As has been widely reported, Mayor Michael Bloomberg championed a campaign to limit fountain soda sales in New York City to 16 ounces. That’s half the size of 7-Eleven’s ubiquitous jumbo-sized soda.
On one hand, this new regulation should be applauded as a long overdue pushback against preposterously high-calorie and unhealthy soft drinks. But in imposing an absolute ban on the sale of certain quantities of soda, many have argued, in our view quite correctly, that it goes too far. A better solution, more consistent with American freedom of choice, is a warning and a tax on soft drinks that are so large as to pose a health risk. This tax would be analogous to the “gas guzzler” tax imposed on certain new vehicles that exceed reasonable MPG levels.
