The New York Times, ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS, April 4, 2010
New York State’s health commissioner would be the first to admit he has soft drinks on the brain.
The commissioner, Dr. Richard F. Daines, was recently driving down Interstate 15 in Utah, his home state, when he came across four billboards in a row that beamed a subliminal message at him, and not the one the advertisers intended.
The first billboard said, “44 Ounce Soda, 99 Cents.” (“This is a carbonated beverage, meant to be consumed in your car,” he said, marveling …

AFP September 8, 2009
President Barack Obama hinted he could support a “sin tax” on fizzy drinks to help lower high rates of US obesity, but admitted it would be an uphill battle against corporate and economic interests.
“I actually think it’s an idea that we should be exploring,” Obama said in the forthcoming issue of Men’s Health, regarding potential taxes levied on soft drinks such as colas and other sugar-filled products.
“There’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda. And every study that’s been done about obesity shows that …

New York State has shelved the idea of a tax on sugary sodas and juice drinks. But New York City’s public health officials opened a new front in their struggle against high-calorie beverages on Monday, unveiling an ad campaign that depicts globs of human fat gushing from a soda bottle.
“Are you pouring on the pounds?” asks the ad, which urges viewers to consider water, seltzer or low-fat milk instead, and warns: “Don’t drink yourself fat.”
The ad — which cost about $277,000 to develop over three fiscal years, including money for creative work and focus …

The Boston Globe, Stephen Smith, August 3, 2009
Just the other day, a man weighing 470 pounds lumbered into Dr. Caroline Apovian’s office at Boston Medical Center. He was young – only 32 years old – but already, his heart had begun to fail him, a legacy of his extreme obesity.
How much sugar?
Maybe, he asked Apovian, I should have weight-loss surgery. She told him that first, he would need to alter what he eats – and drinks, especially the 2 liters of sugary soft drinks he drains every day.
“I gave him …