SF Requires Warnings on Soda Ads

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved some of the country's strictest laws regulating soda and other sugary drinks.

The three laws approved Tuesday require warning labels on new soda ads in the city, ban soda advertising on city property, and prohibit the spending of city money on soda.

The warning label, introduced by Supervisor Scott Wiener, will apply to ads on city billboards, buses, transit shelters, posters and stadiums. It will state: "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay."

The other ad measure and the spending law were introduced by Supervisors Malia Cohen and Eric Mar, respectively.

"This prohibition on advertisements for sugar-sweetened beverages will align our city's policies closer with existing public health goals," Cohen told Courthouse News in an email.

"Our residents, particularly our youth, deserve to be in an environment where residents are exposed to advertisements and messages that promote health, not harmful substances," she said.

The American Beverage Association was not happy. Its spokesman Roger Salazar told the San Francisco Chronicle his group is "disappointed that the board took the politically expedient route of scapegoating sugar-sweetened beverages instead of finding a comprehensive solution to the complex issues of obesity and diabetes."

The soda industry spent $10 million last year to help defeat a tax on sugary beverages on the November ballot.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit