Free Soda: France Bans Unlimited Sugary Drink Refills

PARIS (AP) Offering free refills from self-service soda fountains has been uncommon in France, but now the practice is illegal.A governmental decree prohibiting restaurants, hotels and catering facilities from allowing customers to top up their drinks for free went into effect on Friday. The move is aimed at combatting obesity.

The ban on free refills is part of a sweeping public health law passed a year ago. At the time, Health Minister Marisol Touraine explained she wanted to prevent the free-refill policies common in other countries from spreading to France.The ban applies to all sweetened soft drinks.

France has some of the lowest obesity and overweight rates among developed countries, but statistics from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show the numbers increasing.Restaurants and other spaces catering to the public in France have been banned from offering unlimited sugary drinks in an effort to reduce obesity.

It is now illegal to sell unlimited soft drinks at a fixed price or offer them unlimited for free.The number of overweight or obese people in France is below the EU average but is on the rise.The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends taxing sugary drinks, linking them to obesity and diabetes.

Self-service "soda fountains" have long been a feature of family restaurants and cafes in some countries like the UK, where a soft drinks tax will be introduced next year.The new law [in French] targets soft drinks, including sports drinks containing added sugar or sweeteners.All public eateries, from fast-food joints to school canteens, are affected.

The aim of the law is to "limit, especially among the young, the risks of obesity, overweight and diabetes" in line with WHO recommendations.A recent Eurostat survey of adult obesity put the French at 15.3%, which is just below the EU average of 15.9%. France was slimmer than the UK (20.1%) but fatter than Italy (10.7%).

Past the age of 30, nearly 57% of French men are overweight or obese, according to a report published in October by the French medical journal Bulletin Epidemiologique Hebdomadaire. Some 41% of women in the same age category are also overweight or obese, the study found.

 A 10% tax introduced in Mexico where cola is so popular it's used to cook meat reduced consumption by 6% in the first year. Before the all-you-can-drink ban, France already had a soft drinks tax, and vending machines are barred from schools.A plan to ban "super sized" sugary drinks in New York, was blocked by a court in 2013