$oda Makers ‘Bottle’-Weary
3rd March 2013
Soft-drink companies have spent huge sums retrofitting their assembly lines to accommodate Mayor Bloomberg’s new soda crackdown, according to industry insiders.
The law, which kicks in March 12, forbids hundreds of city eateries from selling soda in containers larger than 16 ounces.
Few drink makers in New York put beverages in that size bottle — and none is a soda. They include Snapple, Pom and Sunny Delight.
But the 16.9-ounce bottle is a popular size for Coke, Pepsi and other carbonated beverages.
That’s because 16.9 fluid ounces is one-half liter, and can be sold internationally (in, say, Canada and Mexico). So Nanny Bloomberg is forcing vendors to stock two slightly different sizes, one that fits his fascist sensibilities, and one slightly larger that fits the natural market.
If ever there were an example of the negative consequences of heavy-handed government interference with the free market, this is it.