San Francisco toy giveaway ban spotlights childhood obesity
(CBS/AP) Foes of fast food are hailing San Francisco's new ban on free toy giveaways in kid's meals. The ban, which kicks off today, was health officials' attempt to buck burgeoning childhood obesity rates.
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As the ban took effect, fast food giant McDonald's kicked off its plan to charge 10 cents for Happy Meal toys, thus complying with the new law. McDonald's says the extra dime will be donated to its Ronald McDonald House charity to accommodate families of sick children at the new University of California, San Francisco hospital now under construction.
Nutrition experts weren't exactly thrilled with that announcement.
"Proof positive, and completely admitted by McDonalds, that no customer will buy a Happy Meal unless it comes with a toy," Dr. Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, told CBS News in an email.
Now Burger King has followed suit, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. BK spokeswoman Kristin Hauser told the Chronicle the company plans to charge 10 cents for toys starting today, but hasn't decided what to do with the proceeds.
San Francisco was the first major U.S. city to prohibit fast-food restaurants from including free toys with kid's meals that don't meet nutritional guidelines for sodium, calories and fat, CBS News reported.
Eric Mar, the San Francisco supervisor who sponsored the ordinance, called the 10-cent charge a "marketing ploy," but said he won't make any changes in the ordinance to address the tactic.
Mar said the goal of the law was not to micromanage fast-food restaurants, but to raise awareness about the nutritional content of the food. He's already deemed the law a success because McDonald's revamped its happy mealwith smaller portions of fries, or apple and milk options. All U.S. McDonald's will offer the new meals by March 2012.
"We feel that our efforts to create healthier options forced the industry to acknowledge their role in childhood obesity," Mar said.
What does McDonald's have to say to critics?
"While we will fully comply with this law, we also have a responsibility to give our customers what they want," McDonald's USA spokesperson Danya Proud, told CBS News in an email. "Parents have told us they'd still like the option of purchasing a toy."
Supporters of the law say the toy giveaways made children clamor for the meals and contributed to high childhood obesity rates. Nearly 17 percent of U.S. kids and adolescents are obese. That's 12.5 million young Americans - nearly triple the obesity rate since 1980.
But opponents claim the government's health police have run amok and are invading people's private choices.
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