San Francisco Approves Health Warning on Soda & Sugary Drink Ads

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San Francisco soda and sugary beverages will now have health warning ads on diabetes, obesity and other health problems.

Lawmakers approved the placement of warning labels on all sugary drinks on Tuesday, according to ABC News.

If the law gets the approval from the Board of Supervisors and the mayor does not veto the ordinance, San Francisco may be the first city in the U.S. to have sugary drink ads that will bear the message: "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay. This is a message from the City and County of San Francisco."

The law covers drinks that contain more than 25 calories per 12 ounces. Label warnings will apply to sodas, sports drinks, iced teas and flavored waters that contain more than 25 calories from sweeteners, with the exception of milk and fruit and vegetable juices.  

The warnings will also be placed on major and public forms of advertising media i.e. billboards, taxis, buses and walls. However, it will not appear on the Internet, in newspapers, broadcast outlets, or circulars.

The ordinance was passed to help curb the high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverage that contributes to America's rising epidemic: obesity and diabetes.

"Today, San Francisco has sent a clear message that we need to do more to protect our community's health," Scott Wiener, one of the supervisors who nominated the label warnings said, according to Time.

 "These health warnings will help provide people information they need to make informed decisions about what beverages they consume," Wiener added. "Requiring health warnings on soda ads also makes clear that these drinks aren't harmless - indeed, quite the opposite - and that the puppies, unicorns, and rainbows depicted in soda ads aren't reality."

The soda industry felt like their products were being unjustly blamed for the obesity and diabetes epidemic. They argued that the sugary drinks are not the problem but the people's inactivity, lack of exercise and genetics.

"It is unfortunate that the Board of Supervisors chooses the most convenient route of putting labels on sugary beverages, instead of finding a solution to stop the complex issue of diabetes and obesity," said Roget Salazar, a Calbev spokesman, to Liberty Voice.

Lisa Katic, another soda industry representative, also voiced out: "the supervisors are missing important facts from their decision, such as the amount of people who are inactive, and overconsumption and genetics are all results in obesity and health issues that have nothing to do with sugary drinks."