A few years ago, Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of NYC, had proposed a limit on the size of soft drinks one could purchase at establishments that were regulated by the city. He wanted to limit the sale of sugary drinks that were greater than 16 ounces.

I personally am not directly affected by the ban on sugary drinks since I don’t really drink soda. I prefer to drink unsweetened tea or fruit juices instead. Although the ban does indeed send the message that it intended to, these sorts of measures may be seen as too controlling. Instead of making a ban based on the size of sugary drinks, there should be regulations regarding the labelling of these beverages, or at least awareness needs to be spread about the intake of sugar and calories as a result of consuming soda and other sweetened drinks. Labeling of the amount of sugar should be done in an understandable and appealing way on packages, so people can easily check the sugar content. Many people drink beverages containing a lot of sugar because they either simply aren’t conscious about how much sweetener they consume or they simply do not care. Instead of focusing on the size of the drinks one can buy, a greater emphasis on supplying healthier drinks for people to purchase should be applied.

Sugary drinks are highly popular because they are very cheap to buy and many people enjoy consuming sweets. High fructose corn syrup is a main proponent to the success of soft drinks, due to the fact that it was created as a response to the overproduction of corn within the United States, which in and of itself is a result of the government’s subsidies to corn farming. In this way, it is easy to make an assumption wherein the government is indirectly promoting the sale of carbonated and sugary beverages. Instead of trying to discourage the sale of sugary drinks to combat this, which is treatment of a symptom, they should try to treat the root cause of the issue, by reducing subsidies for corn and redirecting the funds into other crops. The government should redirect its subsidies towards fruits and vegetables instead.