Beverage group sues S.F. over soda warnings, advertising ban

The American Beverage Association sued the city of San Francisco on Friday, claiming new legislation requiring health warning labels on sugary beverages and prohibiting advertisements of them on city property violates the First Amendment.

“The city is free to try to persuade consumers to share its opinions about sugar-sweetened beverages,” the lawsuit says. “Instead, the city is trying to ensure that there is no free marketplace of ideas, but instead only a government-imposed, one-sided public ‘dialogue’ on the topic — in violation of the First Amendment.”

The legislation, unanimously passed by the Board of Supervisors in June, imposes some of the strongest laws in the country related to sugary beverages.

One of the ordinances being challenged is a first-of-its-kind measure to require warnings on advertising on billboards, buses, transit shelters, posters and stadiums. The label would read: “WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.”

The second ordinance bans soda advertising on city property.

The American Beverage Association is joined in the lawsuit by the California State Outdoor Advertising Association and the California Retailers Association. They aren’t challenging an ordinance banning the spending of city money on soda.

— Emily Green