San Francisco's Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to approve health warnings on advertisements for sweetened beverages on Tuesday in a bid to reduce consumption of the beverages that cause a number of health problems, reported the San Francisco Examiner.
The new law will require warnings on ads for drinks in which the sugar content contributes more than 25 calories for every 12 ounces. The warnings will also have to cover "at least 20% of the area of the advertisement," according to official documents filed with the Board of Supervisors.
The labels will state "WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay. This is a message from the City and County of San Francisco," according to Time.
"We're seeing an explosion of type 2 diabetes" and "sugary drinks are a major contributor to the situation," said Supervisor Scott Weiner. Sweetened drinks are just as bad as cigarettes and should be treated as a serious health risk, he said, according to Buzzfeed.
"Through cigarette taxes and health warnings, we were able to collapse smoking rates from about 50% to just over 15%," Wiener added further. "We need to take a similar approach with sugary drinks."
The labels will be a requirement on all applicable advertisements within the city, including billboards and posters, as well as ads displayed in stadiums, on bus stops and on vehicles. However, advertisements in newspapers, magazines and other distributed media will not need to display the health warnings. The law will come into effect when the city's supervisors take them up for a second vote, sending the law to the mayor's desk for signing.
