SF Supervisors Place Restrictions on Toys in Fast Food Children’s Meals

Posted By elissa on Nov 3, 2010 | 3 comments

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors just passed an ordinance that requires fast food meals marketed to young children to meet nutritional guidelines… or no toy.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors was at it again today, banning toys in McDonald’s Happy Meals that contain over 600 calories and more than 35% of calories from fat. Sorry kids, this encompasses most McD’s Happy Meals offered these days. The measure makes San Francisco the first city to ban restaurants from offering a free toy with meals.

In addition, toy-containing meals would have to contain either fruits or vegetables.

Naturally, it’s controversial, with opponents (which includes McDonald’s, of course) insisting that the ordinance encroaches on personal freedoms. Proponents, on the other hand, view it as a sensible public health measure that’s long overdue. According to AOL’s Alex Salkever:

Old-school Californians see San Francisco’s move as overly restrictive, heavy-handed and disgusting. Such a ban would rob Californians of free choice and substitutes responsible parenting with government supervision, critics say. For more conservative voters, the proposed ban is more evidence that California is becoming a Nanny State.

Meanwhile, California’s more liberal progressives see the mere existence of Happy Meals as cynical, unhealthy and disgusting. Advocates decry the use of toys to market often-unhealthy meals to young children who aren’t mature enough to make well-informed dietary decisions. After all, they say, we’re living in an era where a 24-ounce, 800-calorie Slurpee constitutes a typical after-school snack.

For their part, public health advocates say that Happy Meals make a powerful impression on young minds and ultimately costs society untold amounts of money to care for obese, sedentary, sugar-addled adults raised in a culture of frenzied fast-food consumption.

In a state where residents often shrug their shoulders when asked for their thoughts on Meg Whitman versus Jerry Brown in the gubernatorial race, nearly everyone has froth-at-the-mouth opinions about the Happy Meal ban. The issue highlights the tremendous political and ideological divisions in a state filled with disparities and contradictions.

A copy of the “Healthy Food Incentives Ordinance” is here.

Personally, I’m not sure what the fuss is all about… for one thing, kids don’t seem to be getting too upset about it; and for another, no one is stopping the restaurants from selling the toys separately (and for a nominal amount, natch). Thus, I expect the overall effect of the ordinance is likely to be nil – although I suppose that won’t stop people from squawking about it. Some people love to argue, after all.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM]