By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to prohibit the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants and other locations across the five boroughs, sparking intense opposition from the beverage industry and reviving criticism that the mayor is turning the city into a "nanny state."
The mayor is proposing an amendment to the city health code to prohibit food-service establishments from selling sugary drinks in cups or containers larger than 16 ounces, aides to the mayor confirmed late Wednesday night, arguing that sugary drinks have led to rising obesity rates for New Yorkers.
The proposed amendment would prohibit food-service establishments from selling sugary drinks in cups or containers larger than 16 ounces.
The ban would apply to restaurants, mobile food carts, delis and concessions at movie theaters, stadiums or arenas, the administration said. Sixteen ounces is larger than most soda cans but smaller than most soda bottles.
The proposal will be submitted to the Board of Health on June 12, which will mark the beginning of a three-month comment period before a vote. Since the mayor controls all the appointees on the board, the proposal is expected to be approved.
The proposal was reported late Wednesday night by the New York Times and the New York Post.
The Health Department plans to provide restaurants with a six-month period before violations are cited, which means the ban will likely first take effect early next year. Fines for violating the proposal, which would first begin nine months after the board vote, would cost $200.
The proposal completely bypasses the City Council and essentially enacts the ban by mayoral fiat. A spokesman for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn didn't respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.
Stefan Friedman, spokesman for the New York City Beverage Association, lambasted the proposal as excessive.
"There they go again. The New York City Health Department's unhealthy obsession with attacking soft drinks is again pushing them over the top," Mr. Friedman said in a statement. "The city is not going to address the obesity issue by attacking soda because soda is not driving the obesity rates."
Mr. Friedman cited federal data that show calories from sugar-sweetened beverages are a small and declining part of the American diet.
"It's time for serious health professionals to move on and seek solutions that are going to actually curb obesity," he said. "These zealous proposals just distract from the hard work that needs to be done on this front."
According to the proposal, patrons would be able to buy multiple containers, but restaurants and other establishments would not be able to sell sugary drinks in cups or containers that are more than 16 fluid ounces.
Self-service cups would also be prohibited from containing more than 16 fluid ounces. Food-service establishments, though, would be able to offer free refills to customers.
A sugary drink is defined as any beverage sweetened with sugar or another caloric sweetener that contains more than 25 calories per 8 fluid ounces and contains less than 51% milk or milk substitute by volume as an ingredient.
For example, according to the administration, a diet soda, a milk shake or sweetened latte that is larger than 16 ounces wouldn't be banned.
The administration cited a bevy of statistics to back the ban, such as more than half of city adults, or 58%, are overweight or obese and nearly 40% of city public-school students in eighth grade or below are obese or overweight.
According to the mayor's aides, the single largest driver of the increases in obesity and caloric consumption is sugary drinks.
In 2002, the mayor persuaded the City Council to ban smoking in restaurants and bars, with the ban first taking effect in 2003. The proposal drew widespread criticism at first but New Yorkers have since praised the move, and the mayor views it as one of his finest achievements at City Hall. The mayor has also launched initiatives to limit the intake of trans-fats and salt, moves that generated criticism at the time.
Write to Michael Howard Saul at michael.saul@wsj.com
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