One day San Fran are world champions, and the next, no toys for you.
McDonald’s meals are not so happy in San Francisco after the city’s board of supervisors banned restaurants from giving away toys with meals that have high levels of calories, sugar and fat. “We’re part of a movement that is moving forward an agenda of food justice,” said Supervisor Eric Mar, who sponsored the measure. “From San Francisco to New York City, the epidemic of childhood obesity in this country is making our kids sick, particularly kids from low income neighborhoods, at an alarming rate. It’s a survival issue and a day-to-day issue.” As the first city in the country to undergo such extreme measures, San Francisco is under fire from the franchise which says the board is out of step with the mainstream on the issue of child obesity.
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McDonald’s spokeswoman Danya Proud said, “We are extremely disappointed with today’s decision. It’s not what our customers want, nor is it something they asked for.” Under the ordinance, scheduled to take effect in December 2011, restaurants may include a toy with a meal if the food and drink combined contain fewer than 600 calories, and if less than 35% of the calories come from fat.
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