A judge’s last-minute overturning of New York’s pioneering ban on large size sugary drinks has handed a defeat to health-minded mayor Michael Bloomberg and created confusion for restaurants that had already ordered smaller cups and changed their menus.

New York City’s limit on the size of sugary drinks is an “extraordinary infringement” on consumer choice, said a lawyer for the American Beverage Association and other critics in court yesterday.

PepsiCo plans to remove sugary drinks from schools worldwide, the company has announced, following the success of programmes in the US aimed at cutting down on childhood obesity.

America’s largest beverage distributors are to halt nearly all sales of fizzy drinks to schools – a step that will remove them from vending machines and cafeterias across the country.