The pandemic has created an explosion of awareness about why Mexicans are so vulnerable to certain diseases, prompting ambitious new bills in at least 10 states and Mexico City. Tabasco legislator Manuel Gordillo Bonfil said in a statement that the covid-19 pandemic is a historic opportunity to establish public policies that protect the health of children.

Details of Tabasco’s ban are still being worked out, but the vote was 22 to 8.

With its ley antichatarra, or anti-junk food law, the southern state of Oaxaca, in a vote of 31 to 1, prohibited the sale of items such as chips, candy, soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages to children under 18, putting these foods in the same category as cigarettes and alcohol. The law establishes fines, store closures and jail time for repeat offenders. The ban also applies to vending machines in schools.

“These laws are a huge win for public health because of the level of media attention they are getting globally,” says Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, a professor at Yale …continued .
[Source: Washington Post]