America's new love: Water
NEW YORK — It wasn't too long ago that America had a love affair with soda. Now, an old flame has the country's heart.
As New York City grapples with the legality of a ban on the sale of large cups of soda and other sugary drinks at some businesses, one thing is clear: soda's run as the nation's beverage of choice has fizzled.
In its place? A favorite for much of history: Plain old H2O.
For more than two decades, soda was the No. 1 drink in the U.S. with per capita consumption peaking in 1998 at 54 gallons a year, according industry tracker Beverage Digest. Americans drank just 42 gallons a year of water at the time.
But over the years, as soda increasingly came under fire for fueling the nation's rising obesity rates, water quietly rose to knock it off the top spot.
Americans now drink an average of 44 gallons of soda a year, a 17% drop from the peak in 1998. Over the same time, the average amount of water people drink has increased 38 percent to about 58 gallons a year. Bottled water has led that growth, with consumption nearly doubling to 21 gallons a year
http://www.freep.com/article/20130312/BUSINESS07/130312014/America-s-new-love-Water-
Whaa....this can't be? More informed consumers making better choices? King Bloomberg of the nanny state and his subjects are not going to like this bit of news.
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