PARIS
(AP) Offering free refills from self-service soda fountains has been uncommon
in France, but now the practice is illegal.A governmental decree prohibiting
restaurants, hotels and catering facilities from allowing customers to top up
their drinks for free went into effect on Friday. The move is aimed at
combatting obesity.
The
ban on free refills is part of a sweeping public health law passed a year ago.
At the time, Health Minister Marisol Touraine explained she wanted to prevent
the free-refill policies common in other countries from spreading to France.The
ban applies to all sweetened soft drinks.
France
has some of the lowest obesity and overweight rates among developed countries,
but statistics from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development show the numbers increasing.Restaurants
and other spaces catering to the public in France have been banned from
offering unlimited sugary drinks in an effort to reduce obesity.
It is now illegal to sell unlimited
soft drinks at a fixed price or offer them unlimited for free.The number of
overweight or obese people in France is below the EU average but is on the
rise.The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends taxing sugary drinks,
linking them to obesity and diabetes.
Self-service "soda fountains"
have long been a feature of family restaurants and cafes in some countries like
the UK, where a soft drinks tax will be introduced next year.The new law
[in French] targets soft drinks, including sports drinks containing added
sugar or sweeteners.All public eateries, from fast-food joints to school
canteens, are affected.
The aim of the law is to "limit,
especially among the young, the risks of obesity, overweight and diabetes"
in line with WHO recommendations.A recent Eurostat survey of adult
obesity put the French at 15.3%, which is just below the EU average of
15.9%. France was slimmer than the UK (20.1%) but fatter than Italy (10.7%).
Past the age of 30, nearly 57% of French
men are overweight or obese, according to a report published in October by the
French medical journal Bulletin Epidemiologique Hebdomadaire. Some 41% of women
in the same age category are also overweight or obese, the study found.
A 10% tax introduced in Mexico
where cola is so popular it's used to cook meat reduced consumption by 6% in
the first year. Before the all-you-can-drink ban, France already had a
soft drinks tax, and vending machines are barred from schools.A plan to ban
"super sized" sugary drinks in New York, was blocked by a court in
2013
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