--- title: California Lawmaker Proposes Warning Labels for Sugary Drinks description: Lawmaker proposes that products would have to state that sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay canonical: https://time.com/7414/california-lawmaker-proposes-warning-labels-for-sugary-drinks/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-02-13T21:37:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:24:36.848Z article:section: Health og:title: California Lawmaker Proposes Warning Labels for Sugary Drinks og:description: Lawmaker proposes that products would have to state that sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay og:url: https://time.com/7414/california-lawmaker-proposes-warning-labels-for-sugary-drinks/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50922e227b7cb072/6986826735ba6fa7e8c009c6/75836888.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5120 og:image:height: 2880 og:image:alt: Drinks For Sale On Brighton Beach, UK og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: California Lawmaker Proposes Warning Labels for Sugary Drinks twitter:description: Lawmaker proposes that products would have to state that sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50922e227b7cb072/6986826735ba6fa7e8c009c6/75836888.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sugary Drinks in California Could Come With a Warning Label > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 13, 2014 9:37 PM UTC  Soft drinks for sale. Soft drinks for sale.Tim Graham—Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 13, 2014 9:37 PM UTC A first-of-its kind bill in California proposes to force sugary sweet drinks to carry warning labels for possible side effects like obesity and diabetes. The bill, which is backed by nutrition groups, was introduced on Thursday by Senator Bill Monning. Drinks with added sugar that have 75 calories or more per 12 ounces would have to carry a label that states “State of California Safety Warning: Drinking beverages with added sugar(s) contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.” This isn’t the first attempt to take legal action against sugary drinks. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to [ban large sugary drinks](http://healthland.time.com/2012/09/13/goodbye-big-soda-new-york-becomes-first-city-to-ban-large-sized-soft-drinks/) in 2012 before it was ruled unconstitutional, and San Francisco is also working to impose a two-cent tax on sugary beverages. The new bill is expected to encounter heavy opposition from the Beverage Industry. \[[CBS](http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/02/13/norcal-state-senator-proposes-warning-labels-for-sodas-sugary-drinks/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7414/california-lawmaker-proposes-warning-labels-for-sugary-drinks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7414/california-lawmaker-proposes-warning-labels-for-sugary-drinks/"},"headline":"Sugary Drinks in California Could Come With a Warning Label","datePublished":"2014-02-13T21:37:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:24:36.848Z","description":"Lawmaker proposes that products would have to state that sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay","url":"https://time.com/7414/california-lawmaker-proposes-warning-labels-for-sugary-drinks/","keywords":["Food & Drink","California","Diet & Fitness","Soda"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50922e227b7cb072/6986826735ba6fa7e8c009c6/75836888.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50922e227b7cb072/6986826735ba6fa7e8c009c6/75836888.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Drinks For Sale On Brighton Beach, UK","caption":"Drinks For Sale On Brighton Beach, UK","creditText":"Tim Graham—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/food-drink/","name":"Food & Drink"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7414/california-lawmaker-proposes-warning-labels-for-sugary-drinks/","name":"Sugary Drinks in California Could Come With a Warning Label"}}]}] ```