Samantha Gross July 25, 2012 AP THE fizz is frothing in New York as the mayor considers limits on ‘super-sized’ sugary drinks in a desperate bid to put a lid on obesity. Soft drink and restaurant industries are bottling the mayor’s proposed ban and an effervescent public is lining up to have its say. Since Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s put forward his proposal, opponents have accused him of trying to institute a “nanny state” with government controls that infringe on individual choice. City officials, meanwhile, argue they are trying to save lives in the face of an obesity epidemic that is killing New Yorkers and costing the health budget $4 billion a year. “This year an estimated 5,800 New Yorkers will die because they are obese or overweight,” Bloomberg said Monday. But more than 100 people gathered this week on the steps of City Hall to protest, many wearing T-shirts that…

July 25, 2012 The Canberra Times The contrast could not be more stark between Coles’ gleaming new supermarket in Gungahlin, the biggest of its kind in Australia, which opens today, and the forlorn aisles of Scullin’s handimart in neighbouring Belconnen. The ACT government’s supermarket policy has failed to slow the Woolworths and Coles battle for market share, which is most intense in the territory. Coles’ expanded offering has the biggest gross leasable area in Australia and 4766 square metres of selling area, overshadowing Australia’s biggest Woolworths supermarket at Majura Park, which has about 4000 square metres of selling area. The battling Scullin supermarket, which has a mere 1400 square metres, is the latest local centre to receive a $1.12 million, government-funded makeover. After opening a pergola, seating, new lighting and toilets yesterday, Member for Ginninderra Chris Bourke said the upgrade would help attract new tenants to occupy some of the…

AAP July 25, 2012 TRUCK drivers are rallying outside Coles stores across the country calling for the retailer to be held to account for pressuring truckies and causing accidents. Around 20 Transport Workers Union (TWU) members have gathered outside a store on Sydney’s George Street chanting anti-Coles slogans as part of a national day of action by truckies against the retailer. The protesters say Coles is using its market power to squeeze suppliers including truck drivers, driving down conditions and safety standards. They say some owner-drivers in the Coles supply chain are working for as little as $8.60 per hour. TWU National Secretary Tony Sheldon told the rally Coles was putting pressure on truck drivers “every day of the week”. “We see 5300 people seriously injured in truck incidents each year and 330 people killed in trucking incidents,” he said. “A third of all those truck incidents are involving products…

Michael Pascoe July 25, 2012 The Age ·The debate of Australia’s sugar consumption is heating up. ·Rory Robertson’s bets are getting bigger. ·Having successfully wagered Doomsday forecaster Steve Keen a walk to Mt Kosciuszko over Australian house prices not crashing during the GFC, he’s punting $40,000 that Big Sugar’s favourite academic paper is wrong. For hounding Peter Costello over being Australia’s biggest taxing Treasurer, Robertson once was described favourably by Ross Gittins as “that pesky Mr Robertson” delving deep into the statistics to prove his case against Costello’s protestations. Robertson is proving at least as pesky in his passion for questioning Australia’s fondness of sugar. Taxation or sugar consumption, it’s all a matter of understanding what statistics are credible to an economist, albeit one with a personal belief that sugar is a sweet poison. What makes a sucrose fixation a business story is the size of the Australian sugar and…

CSD Staff Jul 25, 2012 More than 100,000 people have signed a petition to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages in Ontario convenience stores. The Ontario Convenience Stores Association is pushing a new petition to get permission to sell beer and wine in Ontario c-stores. According to The Globe and Mail report, the petition currently has 112,500 signatures from across the province, supporting the idea that there should be broader retail availability of beer and wine. Despite governmental promises to allow the sale of liquor in Ontario c-stores, nothing has changed for more than 30 years. Dave Bryans, Ontario Convenience Stores Association CEO, said some area c-stores are already selling alcohol to their communities if they don’t have stand-alone LCBO outlets. The Ontario Convenience Stores Association represents 7,500 of the 11,000 c-stores in Ontario.

July 25, 2012 The Age Update A move by grocery wholesaler Metcash to extend the war for consumer dollars to pubs and poker machines has prompted Senator Nick Xenophon to write to the company’s board urging them to consider the social and economic harm caused by poker machines before making an investment. “One of the great things about IGA supermarkets is they have proudly proclaimed they are not in the pokies business. In fact, it has been a point of difference highlighted here in South Australia in their advertising,” Senator Xenophon said. “If Metcash gets into the pokies business, it will be buying into the misery caused by the 40 per cent of pokies losses coming from problem gamblers. I expect individual store operators here in South Australia will not be happy with this news.” He said the irony of Metcash’s reported move is that Woolworths and Coles are coming…