Officials in Santa Clara County, Calif. this week have banned high-calorie children’s fast-food meals that come with toy promotions, unless the restaurants can meet nutritional standards set by the county board of supervisors.
The ban, the first of its kind in North America, will be in effect in parts of Santa Clara County, which includes a portion of Silicon Valley with almost 1.8 million people. The meals affected include Happy Meals sold at McDonald’s Corp. franchises.
“This ordinance prevents restaurants from preying on children’s love of toys” to sell unhealthy foods, County Supervisor Ken Yeager, who sponsored the measure, told the Los Angeles Times. “This ordinance breaks the link between unhealthy food and prizes.”
County officials say that such meals with toy promotions lure children to purchase high-calorie, high-sodium, unhealthy foods.
Many lawmakers, doctors, and educators across the nation have decried high-calorie, fast-food meals, claiming that they encourage childhood obesity.
The calorie cap for such children’s meals is 485 calories.
The restaurant industry, however, believes that government policy has no place in raising children. “It substitutes the county’s judgment for the judgment of parents. It does nothing to address a holistic response to the problem,” McDonald’s spokesman Harlan Levy said in a statement.
The ban, the first of its kind in North America, will be in effect in parts of Santa Clara County, which includes a portion of Silicon Valley with almost 1.8 million people. The meals affected include Happy Meals sold at McDonald’s Corp. franchises.
“This ordinance prevents restaurants from preying on children’s love of toys” to sell unhealthy foods, County Supervisor Ken Yeager, who sponsored the measure, told the Los Angeles Times. “This ordinance breaks the link between unhealthy food and prizes.”
County officials say that such meals with toy promotions lure children to purchase high-calorie, high-sodium, unhealthy foods.
Many lawmakers, doctors, and educators across the nation have decried high-calorie, fast-food meals, claiming that they encourage childhood obesity.
The calorie cap for such children’s meals is 485 calories.
The restaurant industry, however, believes that government policy has no place in raising children. “It substitutes the county’s judgment for the judgment of parents. It does nothing to address a holistic response to the problem,” McDonald’s spokesman Harlan Levy said in a statement.
