By Taylor N. Villarreal
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Baltimore retailers who sell sugar-sweetened beverages may soon be required to place signs in their stores that warn customers about the risks of consuming soda and other soft drinks.
Under a bill being considered by the Baltimore City Council’s health committee, the signs would have to be placed in the front of grocery and convenient stores near the checkout area and would read, “Warning: This will cause tooth decay, heart disease, diabetes and obesity,” according to Sonia Sarkar, the chief policy engagement officer for the city’s Health Department.
The signs would also be placed on vending machines as well as billboards and other forms of advertisements for sugar-sweetened drinks in Baltimore. Health Department officials say it would cost about $5,000 to print the signs, with the money coming from grants and city funds.
“The warning labels send a sign, a message and a level of advisory, not only to the children, but also to the parents and guardians and caretakers that you really should monitor the intake of sugary-sweetened beverages on a daily basis,” said Councilman Nick Mosby, who proposed the bill. “In statistics, it shows that for many young folks, sugar-sweetened beverages account for about 40 to 50 percent of all the sugar that they take in. So it’s a pretty drastic problem.”
Mosby introduced the bill in January and a public hearing was held in June. The bill was scheduled to be discussed during a meeting of the health committee last week, but not enough committee members showed up to officially discuss or vote on the matter.
Mosby said the next step is for the health committee to hold either a work session or a formal voting session on the proposal. He said the committee has about 90 days to decide whether to move the bill to the full council or reject it.
Council member Robert Curran, the committee’s chairman, said he has not yet scheduled another meeting to discuss the bill. He said the committee is talking with representatives of the Sugar Association on possible changes to the bill.
According to Curran, the sugar industry would like the bill to be amended so that the words “sugar-sweetened beverages” would be replaced with the words “caloric beverages” on the warning signs.
Sarkar said studies shows that one-third of children are obese and one-fourth of children drink a soda every day.
“It’s about understanding the impact sugar-sweetened beverages can have on your health and we are hoping that people will see that there are healthier beverage alternatives,” Sarkar said. “This bill will put children on a path to a healthier weight and a healthier lifestyle.”
Sarkar added: “Drinking one sugar-sweetened beverage a day raises the obesity rate by 60 percent. This is why we need this bill to pass because people are hungry for information when they are out there buying things.”
The bill would give consumers a chance to make healthier choices, said Andy Krauss, the communications officer at Sugar Free Kids of Maryland and Horizon Foundation.
“Large sugary drink companies have been taking advantage of predatory marketing tactics for nearly a century,” said Shawn McIntosh, the executive director of Sugar Free Kids. “This has affected the children of Baltimore negatively, specifically those coming from lower-income families. Our children are exposed to the marketing, which reduces their chances of developing healthier drinking habits as they grow into adulthood.”
Earlier this year, The Baltimore City Health Department joined alongside Sugar Free Kids and other coalitions to promote healthy life choices for young adults by holding a “Rethink Your Drink” campaign.
“The Rethink Your Drink Campaign engaged a community around Baltimore City and brought a community coalition together,” Sarkar said. “We had speakers come and give insightful information and personal experiences on sugar-sweetened beverages and the impact it can have on people. It truly was a community empowered movement.”
This rally, which was held at a local church in Baltimore, allowed people to share their thoughts on sugar-sweetened beverages and discuss the bill itself, Krauss said.
The campaign is trying to bring awareness and allows people to do a “Rethink Your Drink” 30-day challenge in which they try to go one month without drinking sugar-sweetened beverages, Sarkar said.
“When we see the increase of childhood obesity; when we see the levels of diabetes that we normally see in adults happening in children as young as 10, 11 and 12 years of age, then we understand and know that there is a direct correlation to the amount of sugar drinks that they are taking in,” Mosby said.
The “Rethink Your Drink” campaign hopes to make people realize exactly what people are putting in their body.
“With having the campaign we wanted to raise awareness and by having this bill, we think people will now have access to the information that will help them make more healthier choices,” said Andrew Nicklas, the legislative director at the Baltimore Health Department. “So that in the long-term if you make more and more healthy choices, you will have a more active and healthy lifestyle.”
McIntosh said the city has a chance to be a leader in educating consumers about the dangers of too much sugar.
“Baltimore still has the opportunity to become a forerunner in the effort to require warning labels on sugary drink advertisements and points of sale,” McIntosh said. “Sugar Free Kids of Maryland is looking forward to working towards making this happen.”
Mosby agrees.
“We really want to inform people because it is shocking when you hold up a soda or Gatorade or a fruit drink and then you take the amount of sugar in that bottle,” Mosby said. “It’s shocking to see the amount of sugar that these drinks are made with.”