(Washington, D.C.) The National Restaurant Association today said an appeals court’s unanimous decision affirming a lower court’s ruling striking down the New York City beverage ban is a great victory for the thousands of restaurant operators and industry suppliers serving New York City.
A four-judge panel of the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division announced today its unanimous decision to uphold the lower court’s ruling overturning the ban.
The appeals court declared that “the Board of Health overstepped the boundaries of its lawfully delegated authority when it promulgated the Portion Cap Rule to curtail the consumption of soda drinks. It therefore violated the state principle of separation of powers.”
In his original ruling from March, State Supreme Court Justice Milton Tingling found the ban to be arbitrary and capricious.
“The National Restaurant Association has been a lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against the New York City proposed beverage ban, along with the American Beverage Association and a number of other organizations,” said Dawn Sweeney, President and CEO of the National Restaurant Association. “We are very gratified by today’s ruling and believe it will send a strong message to other jurisdictions that may have been considering similar bans.”
The National Restaurant Association joined the American Beverage Association and others in filing the lawsuit challenging the ban last fall, saying it was arbitrary and subjected restaurateurs to a standard that many of its competitors, including groceries and convenience stores, didn’t have to meet.
The ban would have prohibited restaurants, delis, stadiums and arenas, concession stands and food carts from selling sugar-sweetened beverages in containers above 16 ounces. Banned beverages would have included soda, sweetened iced tea, some smoothies, coffee drinks and lemonade.
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Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises more than 1 million restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of 14.7 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry's largest trade show (NRA Show May 20-23, 2017, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRA Educational Foundation's ProStart); as well as the Kids LiveWell program promoting healthful kids' menu options. For more information, visit Restaurant.org and find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.