New York Hospitals Ban Junk Food

As if hospital food wasn't bad enough

People nervously waiting around in New York City hospitals for loved ones to come out of surgery can't smoke. In a few months, they won't be able to have a super-size fast-food soda. And soon, they won't be able to get a candy bar out of the vending machine or a piece of fried chicken from the cafeteria.

In one of his latest health campaigns, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is aiming to banish sugary and fatty foods from public and private hospitals.

In recent years, the city's 15 public hospitals have cut calories in patients' meals and restricted the sale of sugary drinks and unhealthy snacks at vending machines. But now the city is tackling hospital cafeteria food, too. And the Healthy Hospital Food Initiative is expanding its reach: In the past year, 16 private hospitals have signed on.