The New York State Court will not reinstate the big soda ban. The court ruled that the New York City health department "exceeded the scope of its regulatory authority" when it approved the 16-ounce limit on sugary beverages. The decision was made 4-2.

"The Board of Health engaged in law-making beyond its regulatory authority," Judge Eugene Pigott Jr. wrote for the majority opinion. "It is clear that the Board of Health wrote the Portion Cap Rule without benefit of legislative guidance."

According to the Associated Press, the city had hoped Thursday's ruling would overturn a lower court's decision that blocked the restrictions after several business owners in the food industry sued.

"We are pleased that the lower courts' decisions were upheld," said the American Beverage Association in a statement after the decision was made. They went on to say if the restrictions had been reinstated it "would have created an uneven playing field for thousands of small businesses in the city and limited New Yorkers' freedom of choice."

Mary T. Bassett of the City Health Commission said the administration of Mayor de Blasio is continuing to look for ways to curb health issues related to the consumption of large amounts of sugar.

"Today's ruling does not change the fact that sugary drink consumption is a key driver of the obesity epidemic, and we will continue to look for ways to stem the twin epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes by seeking to limit the pernicious effects of aggressive and predatory marketing of sugary drinks and unhealthy foods," Bassett wrote.

Judge Pigott also wrote that the city health regulators appeared to carefully weight the economic, social and health implications of the ban was not a policy within the boards powers. The two disagreeing judges wrote that they believe that the board was within its right to create the ban and that the judiciary should not intervene.

The New York Times reports that this could have long term implications on the Board of Health, which has been pushing high profile initiatives to ban trans fats in restaurants and post calorie counts on menus.

The AP also reports that soda has received a lot of criticism over the years and that health advocates have said soda is uniquely harmful in that people don't realize how much high-fructose corn syrup they are consuming. The bad publicity has led to a steady decline in soda sales over the years but other sugary drink sales, such as sports and energy drinks, have risen.

Lawmakers and health advocates across the country have proposed soda taxes to help limit consumption, however none have been successful thus far due to heavy lobbying from the beverage industry.