Mr. Tom L. Bené, Chair American Beverage Association 1101 Sixteenth St. NW Washington, DC 20036
2011-07-20 Dear Mr. Bené, For almost 40 years, U. S. consumers have joined with beverage makers in "going metric." Store shelves are full with 500 mL, 1 L, 2 L, and 3 L sizes in soft drink and bottled water product sizes, and most people recognize the size of one liter or two liters of volume at a glance. Even in advertising, retailers post the metric sizes of beverages exclusively, on shelf tags and electronic marquees. Yet, not all beverages sold to the American public are packaged in such round metric sizes. Why hasn't the American beverage industry evolved toward completing the job? Congress in 1988 declared the metric system to be the "preferred system of measurement" for U.S. trade. One might say that Congress caught up with the beverage industry in establishing that preference. I wish to suggest that the ABA support the trend, and discuss among its member companies a transition to predominantly metric sizes . For example, the 237 mL size could become 250 mL, and the 591 mL size would rise to an even 600 mL. Combined with a consumer education program, wider use of the milliliter and the liter would make comparing sizes easier. It would also that calculations of large amounts of product would also be simplified. The U.S. Metric Association (USMA) is a non-profit, national organization founded in 1916. USMA advocates U.S. conversion to the metric system of measurement as the Nation's primary measurement standard. Examples of other metric U.S. consumer products may be found on our Web site at www.metric.org/products/ Thank you very much for your kind attention. SIncerely, Paul R. Trusten Registered Pharmacist Vice President and Public Relations Director U.S. Metric Association, Inc. www.metric.org [email protected] +1(432)528-7724
