Down size Soda size

How large should a drink of soda be? NYC wants to limit the size of sodas sold in some establishments.

I remember when I was younger, we would go to the corner store, or the one in the middle of the block, and buy a soda in the bottle. They were usually 12 oz. bottles, although some drinks like Tru-Ade and 7up came in 6 or 8oz. bottles. We drank what made us happy on any particular day before or after delivering our newspapers. Size didn’t usually matter; the taste of the moment did. All of the beverages contained a hefty amount of sugar; this was before saccharine and Splenda. We didn’t die, nor did we gain weight. We were active, and in reasonable shape. We did share, even the smaller bottles. "Can I have a sip?" worked until Eddie H. begged for a sip, and downed  a whole bottle in a single gulp. Eddie did put on weight. Pepsi and Coca-Cola both came out with 16 oz. containers for individual consumption. We never bought that unless we were taking it home to share.

Uncle Bud had a soda fountain in the 50s. You could order 2 sizes of sodas, small or large. A small coke (soda) was 6 oz. and cost 5 cents. Large (12 oz.) was 10 cents. The neat thing about the fountain sodas was that they were mixed on the spot, with a dash of coke syrup or other flavoring added to carbonated water. For a few cents extra, another flavor like cherry could be added, and voila- the cherry coke. These things were done way before the canned product came out. The drinks were drunk at the counter or table, not take out. Two straws was a common and romantic way to share.  It was simple, and not that bad on your health. However, the containers did remain the same size, and price went up a penny every so often until they doubled, and then the soda fountain closed.

Over the years is size of a soft drink has managed to increase the size of the containers. They became portable. And so it seems soft drinks are the only things that  increase the size of the container and the price simultaneously.

Check out what used to be a pound of coffee in the supermarket. The same nice looking aluminum package went from one pound to 14 oz, to 12, to 11.5, and the price went up.

How about ice cream in the frozen food section. What looks like the old half gallon container is now a quart and a half, at a price similar to the half gallon price.

Snickers will discontinue the jumbo sized bar that sold for about $2, which probably was about the size of a regular snickers a decade or so ago. And so it offers a downsized version of snickers for about a buck. This Snickers thing is interesting.  Actually they plan to package two bars together which will amount to slightly fewer calories in both bars than in the jumbo one, and they are trying to encourage us to share the second bar. Right! I don’t think that will happen, nor will the second bar be saved for later. There is nothing like a fresh Snickers.
Tropicana Orange Juice went from 64 oz. to 59 oz. supposedly because of the orange shortage last year. The container is the same size as the old one, just less juice, and the same price as the old volume. You can bet that you will never see 64 oz. of juice in that container again.
But back to the soft drinks, and the controversy in NYC to limit the size of the drinks. Why shouldn’t folks be able to buy any size soft drink they want. Why can’t the consumer determine his or her needs on this?  A 32 oz. soda is a lot of sugar. It is a lot of lots of things which are not banned substances. People like to waste money, and it is their prerogative.
On a personal level, I would encourage fast food chains to do a couple of things to reduce the national waist. Maybe they should only include smaller sized drinks in advertising and as part of the meal deals they offer. Perhaps,  too, they could take a page from the Mars Company that makes Snickers and offer two or three cups and straws with enormous drinks.