Local senator’s soda warning label law passes senate
UPDATE: The Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Safety Warning Act, passed the California State Senate this afternoon on a 21 to 13 vote, moving it forward to the State Assembly. The bill, the first of its kind in the nation, would help curb skyrocketing diabetes rates by placing a simple warning label on the front of all bottles and cans of sugary drinks sold in California.
Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel), who represents Paso Robles in the California Senate, in partnership with health advocates, community groups and physicians, introduced the bill in February to ensure that all Californians are aware of the science describing the harmful effects of consuming these drinks. The label, developed by a national panel of nutrition and public health experts, would read: STATE OF CALIFORNIA SAFETY WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay.
“Today’s vote is a major step toward warning people about the profoundly harmful effects of consuming liquid sugar,” says Dr. Harold Goldstein of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, a sponsor of the bill. “SB 1000 supports consumers’ right to know the facts about diabetes, undiluted by beverage industry spin.”
An overwhelming body of scientific research shows that liquid sugar is uniquely harmful because it gets absorbed so quickly, much faster than solid food. When sugar floods the bloodstream, it overloads the pancreas and causes the liver to store the sugar as fat, leading to fatty liver disease. This contributes directly to diabetes – a disease that has tripled in the U.S. over the last 30 years. Research shows that drinking a soda or two a day increases the risk of developing diabetes by 26 percent. Two-thirds of California teenagers drink a soda or more a day, a higher proportion than ever before.
According to a recent Field Poll, 74 percent of California voters, including a majority of Republicans and Independents, support warning labels on sugary drinks.
The bill goes next to the California State Assembly for consideration by policy and fiscal committees, then to a floor vote by August 31, 2014. If passed in that house with a simple majority, the legislation will move on to the governor’s desk and may be signed into law by September 30, 2014. If signed, all sugary drink containers would display a warning label by July 1, 2015.
Original story:
Local senator’s soda warning label law clears legal hurdle
Sen. Bill Monning
The Sugary Drink Safety Warning Act, moved out of the State Senate’s Appropriations Committee Friday on a 5 to 2 vote, setting the legislation up for a vote by the full Senate this week. The bill would place a simple warning label on the front of all bottles and cans of sugary drinks sold in California.
Worried by rising levels of diabetes, obesity and tooth decay tied to the consumption of these products, Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel), who represents Paso Robles, in partnership with health advocates, community groups and physicians, introduced the bill to ensure that all Californians are aware of the science describing the harmful effects of consuming these drinks. The label, developed by a national panel of nutrition and public health experts, would read: STATE OF CALIFORNIA SAFETY WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay.
“People may know that sugary drinks are not health food, but most people do not know the profoundly harmful effects of consuming liquid sugar,” says Dr. Harold Goldstein of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, a sponsor of the legislation. “This legislation offers consumers the information that they have a right to know, in a simple, straightforward and transparent manner.”
Scientific research shows that liquid sugar is uniquely harmful because it gets absorbed so quickly, much faster than solid food. When sugar floods the bloodstream, it overloads the pancreas and causes the liver to store the sugar as fat – which leads to fatty liver disease. Both of which contribute directly to diabetes – a disease that has tripled in the U.S. over the last 30 years. Research shows that drinking a soda or two a day increases the risk of developing diabetes by 26 percent. Two-thirds of California teenagers drink a soda or more a day, a higher proportion than ever before.
According to a recent Field Poll, 74 percent of California voters, including a majority of Republicans and Independents, support warning labels on sugary drinks. The full California State Senate must vote on SB 1000 by May 30th. If passed with a simple majority, the legislation will move on to the State Assembly and then the governor’s desk.
Complete information on SB 1000, including fact sheets on the science linking sugary beverages to diabetes, obesity and tooth decay, is available at: www.sodawarninglabel.org.
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