Baltimore bans sugary drinks from kids’ menus

Baltimore became the largest city to prohibit restaurants from including sugar-sweetened beverages on kids’ menus with a law that took effect on July 18, 2018. The default options on kids’ menus must now be water, milk, and 100% fruit juice. Several smaller cities in California and Colorado have passed similar policies.

Frank Hu, Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology and the chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told NBC News that “this kind of message can influence the behavior of parents and drinking habits of the entire family, so it’s something that can have a wide effect.” However, he cautioned against the inclusion of fruit juice, which can contain high amounts of sugar.

Read NBC News article: Baltimore becomes first major city to remove sugary drinks from kids’ menus

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