NYC Big-Soda Crackdown Plan Goes to Vote Today

Posted: Thu 4:03 AM, Sep 13, 2012

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Reporter: The Associated Press

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NYC Big-Soda Crackdown Plan Goes to Vote Today

FILE - In this May 31, 2012 file photo, a man leaves a 7-Eleven store with a Double Gulp drink, in New York. If New York City bans big sodas, what's next? Large slices of pizza? Double-scoop ice cream cones? Tubs of movie-theater popcorn? The 16-ounce strip steak? Opponents of the proposed ban may use that slippery-slope argument along with other legal strategies to try to block the first-in-the-nation rule. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

One of New York City's most ambitious efforts to prod residents to live healthier appears poised to pass as a health panel takes up a plan to cut down sales of big-sized sodas and other sugary drinks.

Today's Board of Health meeting could bring the final vote on the proposal. But it may not be the final word.

The plan would bar sales of sugar-heavy drinks in more than 16-ounce cups or containers in restaurants, movie theaters and some other settings.

Advocates include Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a roster of doctors. They say the proposal strikes at a leading cause of obesity.

Soda makers and sellers say the plan unfairly singles out soft drinks as fat culprits. A beverage industry-led group says it's considering suing if the proposal passes.

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