Berkeley bans junk foods at grocery shop checkout aisles with nation’s first ‘healthy checkout’ ordinance

BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) — Berkeley is established to turn out to be the 1st metropolis in the point out — and potentially the country– to pass an ordinance taking away food items high in sugar and sodium from the checkout line at grocery retailers.

The Berkeley Town Council unanimously handed the “healthy checkout” ordinance Tuesday evening.

The measure is set to consider impact in March 2021, with enforcement beginning Jan 2022.

“We’re not declaring you are not able to have these items. We are just indicating they are not going to be correct at the eye level of your small children when they walk into the retail store and you’re waiting around in that very long line at check out out,” claimed District 3 Council Member Kate Harrison.

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Starting in March, only goods with 5 grams of included sugar or considerably less and consist of fewer than 250 milligrams of sodium per serving will be allowed at the checkout aisle.

Believe protein bars as a substitute of sweet bars and no-sugar-included juice alternatively of soda.

“We know that individuals that consume a good deal of higher-sugar and salty products and solutions have even worse well being results and this especially besets small money communities and individuals of coloration,” Harrison claimed.

When some are in favor of the go other individuals concern if there requirements to be greater schooling.

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“Section of it is not offering people today a false sense of accomplishing a little something where by actually the situation could be community instruction, building positive young children in educational institutions are having effectively and have obtain to foodstuff,” stated Joseph Azam. “That stuff issues a lot more to me than rearranging groceries at the checkout stand.”

Berkeley was the initial in the nation to go a soda tax in 2014.

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