Los Angeles (AFP)
The city of Berkeley, a progressive bastion in northern California, will ban the sale of overly sweet or salty products on displays located at supermarket checkouts in order to promote healthier eating, a first in the United States according to local media.
The city council of Berkeley, a university town of 120,000 people near San Francisco, this week unanimously passed an ordinance that will ban products containing more than 5 grams of added sugars or more than 250 mg of sodium per serving from boxes.
The ban also applies to all drinks containing added sugars or artificial sweeteners.
The ordinance notes that "inexpensive foods rich in salt, saturated fats and added sugars are predominant in the display cases".
Customers are "more inclined to make impulse purchases and parents fight with their children who ask for sweets at the end of the shopping."
The ban, which is to apply to 25 supermarkets in the city, will come into effect next March and the first visits by health inspectors are scheduled for January 2022.
"What's good for customers in Berkeley is also good for our businesses," said Kate Harrison, one of the elected officials behind this measure.
In 2014, Berkeley was the first to impose a tax on sodas, an initiative then taken up by several other major American cities.
According to a study published in early 2019, the residents of Berkeley reduced their consumption of sugary drinks by 21% in the year following the implementation of this "soda tax".
The drop reached 52% in 2017.
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