markcoatney:

Yeah, and so did Philip Morris, Countrywide Financial, etc. I don’t have a dog in this fight, but it’s nonsensical to argue that “we’re simply giving the customer what he wants” is an airtight defense. 

See, here’s the thing: Neither Bloomberg nor McDonald’s are completely right on this issue. Clearly there’s a fight going on regarding the overall health of our society, and in some quarters, it’s simply being lost. Bloomberg is right to focus on the problem, but really, the target here is not so much the consumer but the corporation. If you limited the amount of corn syrup one could get from an average meal at Mickey D’s, rather than the portion size, you’d get much further.

Bloomberg has done good things on this issue in general — his anti-trans-fat push was successful, and having restaurants list calorie counts on their menus is something they should simply do without being asked. But, unlike smoking, this feels like an issue that may need to be handled at a level above the consumer, at the manufacturing level.

And to everyone, a suggestion: Stop drinking soda for a week or two. Switch to water. Then go back to it. You’ll notice something weird happen — you’ll find it much stronger than it was a week before. That’s because it was always that strong, but you had gotten used to it. Keep that in mind.