In San Francisco, that's in California, the Board of Supervisors voted 8 to 3 in favor of banning toy giveaways in Happy Meals and other fast food promotions, unless the Happy Meal has some fruit and vegetables in it, along with a lower fat, sugar and sodium content.
The mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, has said he will veto the ban. But the supervisors have enough votes to over turn a veto.
McDonald's is not too happy with San Francisco right now and is fighting the ordinance.
A McDonald's owner in San Francisco, Scott Rodrick was quoted saying, "Somehow the San Francisco Board of Supervisors just took the happy out of Happy Meals."
The Happy Meal ordinance allows restaurants to give away a toy if the Happy Meal amounts to less than 600 calories, has less than 640 milligrams of sodium, less than 35% of the calories coming from fat, of which less than 10% can be saturated fat. Less than 35% of the calories in a milkshake can come from fat, with less than 10% added sugar.
Plus, the Happy Meals must have at least half a cup of fruit or at least three quarters of a cup of vegetables.
The government micromanaging a Happy Meal like this seems a bit nuts to me. By the way, nuts, seeds, eggs or low-fat cheese are exempted from the Happy Meal fat quotient.
Methinks it's the parents job to decide what their kids eat. How about San Francisco passing an ordinance where a parent of an obese child gets arrested for buying his fat kid a Happy Meal, slapped with a hefty fine and forced to attend parenting school? Or, better yet, bypass the Happy Meal trigger and just start charging the parents of obese children with child abuse. That'd be more efficient.
2 comments:
Off topic here..but the only ever modern film treatment of the obese was "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." The young Depp and Leonardo with their grossly obese mother, Darlene. ..The choice to burn her (mother) rather than suffer the degradation of her 'rescue' still reverberates with me. The fact that Darlene, the real actress died from obesity issues some years later..aarg.....Hollywood, other than comedic, read : Hairspray or that Gweneth ?, what's her name, in her fat suit- still refuse to address that which we see all around us..the grossly obese and their travails thru life.
Are you or me really qualified to speak on this subject?
Skinny Lament
Oh, look at this...Skinny questions as to if you're even qualified to speak on this subject...interesting
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