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France bans unlimited sugary drink refills

bbc.com

121–130 of 177 posts

Re: France bans unlimited sugary drink refills

#121
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I remember my vacation in the states (in the South). I got served a absolutely massive glass of coca-cola with my dinner. When I had finally managed to finish it a waiter came and refilled the bloody thing when I wasn't paying attention. How can you enjoy your meal with that much to drink? Are you from a place where there is a cultural taboo against only drinking part of the beverage a restaurant serves you? Saying…

Are you from a place where it’s culturally accepted to let left-over drinks simply go to waste?

> Are you from a place where it’s culturally accepted to let left-over drinks simply go to waste?

Absolutely. Where I'm from, no one bats an eyelash at a half-glass of soda left on a restaurant table.

Re: France bans unlimited sugary drink refills

#122
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What profits? If they're charging you the same whether you get three refills or zero, that sounds like a pretty shitty way to get people to spend more on soda. We have free refills in Canada and they're basically just abused by teenagers and poor people so three people can drink from one soda.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_lunch

How is filling people up with soda going to make them buy more food?

Honestly, I think free refills were invented because soda is cheaper than the fast food guy's time filling your cup. Therefore, they moved the soda fountains to the dining room and just started handing out cups with meals to save money.

Re: France bans unlimited sugary drink refills

#124
post #95

I'd rather live in a country that provides comprehensive free health care and limits soda consumption, than one that allows me the "freedom" to consume as much sugar as possible and makes me pay for the consequences. I must be a radical hippie leftist: I think we should tax the sh-t out of refined sugar and subsidize organic vegetable farms.

You surely also would like the state to ban tobacco, alcohol and weed since it also has proven negative consequences? Can't have it both ways.

You can, actually. This isn't about banning sugary drinks. It's about banning a business model that the drafters of the law believe harms the collective health of France. This has more in common with clean air legislation than it has with drug prohibition.

Re: France bans unlimited sugary drink refills

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, nanny-state, authoritarianism is part of the socialist ideological grouping. Socialists have always advocated the state making little, "lifestyle" decisions like this. The state "knows better", and you have lots of people agreeing. Look at the top comment and its children comments on this story. You have people applauding this law and saying that people are too stupid to know when to not get a refill. These are…

Fighting for better health is authoritarianism now? that's a new one. I did not hear that argument when countries are raising cigarette taxes. Australia with one of the highest cigarette tax is also a socialist country then? The laissez faire regarding food in the US does not seem to work very well since the US is one of the worst developed country regarding obesity.

State imposing its rules (state authority) over peoples' own decisions (personal freedoms) is authoritarian-leaning, by the definition of how things are on the authoritarian-libertarian axis.

Of course it doesn't make state authoritarian, but adding points towards that direction on that axis.

Re: France bans unlimited sugary drink refills

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

socialist = banning unlimited soda refills ? seriously ?

Yes, nanny-state, authoritarianism is part of the socialist ideological grouping. Socialists have always advocated the state making little, "lifestyle" decisions like this. The state "knows better", and you have lots of people agreeing. Look at the top comment and its children comments on this story. You have people applauding this law and saying that people are too stupid to know when to not get a refill. These are…

It is funny the people that see "socialists" everywhere

Re: France bans unlimited sugary drink refills

#128
post #64
post #30

How does this effect sugar free drinks like Diet Coke and Coke Zero?

Drinks with "added sugar substitutes" are banned as well. (From the link to the law text) https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFT...

Sugar substitutes tends to mean things like HFCS, Agave syrup, honey, etc: things that are sugar but not always called sugar on the label.

Is that the case here, or is France really banning the artificial sweeteners too?

Re: France bans unlimited sugary drink refills

#130
The irony of the situation is that they can't simply ration or ban these products because we live in the era of consumerism and the market would rather slowly kill you and make money off of you than ban something that is a health concern. So this is a double standard to keep French pencil pushers employed and French people thinking that their government is doing something positive.
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