My Modern Metropolis

Should toys be banned from Happy Meals?

A California county on Tuesday became the first in the nation to ban toys from fast food kids' meals high in calories, fat, salt and sugar.

Santa Clara County supervisors voted 3-2 to ban the plastic goodies as promotions in meals with more than 485 calories, more than 600 milligrams of sodium, more than 35 percent of total calories from fat or more than 10 percent of calories from added sugar. It would also limit toy giveaways on single food items with more than 200 calories or more than 480 milligrams of sodium.

But the decision, which affects about a dozen fast food restaurants in unincorporated areas of Silicon Valley, has angered the California Restaurant Association, which fought the proposal with ads in local newspapers. One asks "Who Made Politicians the Toy Police?" and shows a child in handcuffs in front of a cop.

My question to you: Should toys be banned from Happy Meals or do you think government should mind its own business.

full cnn article

Tags: Happy, Meals?, Should, banned, be, from, toys

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Amy Wong on April 28, 2010 at 5:53pm
Oh noooo! The toys are the best part!!! :((((( If i were still a kid I would've been really bummed! But obesity is becoming a big issue over there, and I don't really blame them if they want to take action on it. Fast food corps just want to cash in, and aren't really interested in healthy dieting and all that.
Permalink Reply by Kristine Allen on November 16, 2010 at 12:32am
It's not the restaurants or the toys faults that the kids are obese though... it's the PARENTS! Get the kid some chicken nuggets, that'll shut em up!
Permalink Reply by Kevin on April 28, 2010 at 6:43pm
Although I think that Happy Meals are crap and I would not want to feed them to my kids I think the government has overstepped their bounds here. Trying to dictate what people eat is not there place. If the government wants to do something to promote heathy eating they need to stop the corn subsidies that are responsible for all the hight fructose corn syrup in everything.
Permalink Reply by Gail on April 28, 2010 at 7:14pm
No - Honestly parents will still get fast food. They just won't have to decide which restaurant to go to based on what toy is available. Sometime I really have to wonder - did we as humans every have common sense or is being lost as evolve?
Permalink Reply by FubarGuy on April 28, 2010 at 8:56pm
Idiocracy. Yes, it's low-brow humor of the basest kind, but it's becoming shockingly true. I fear for our species.
Permalink Reply by IanJ on May 3, 2010 at 6:47am
It's a horrible movie by the way. I also don't think they knew what the word Idiocracy actually meant. What's even worse is how few point out how little sense the title makes.

However, it should be noted that statistics show that the higher your IQ is the more likely you will commit suicide.
Permalink Reply by IanJ on May 3, 2010 at 6:53am
It's meant well but it's clear how little they understand the issue. Most kids either want the toy or the food. Instead of going to McDonalds and getting a toy to play with (possibly even getting them to move about playing and burning off a few fries) all they will have now is a cheap hamburger to play with. If they really cared about the kids then they should go after the food not the toys.
Permalink Reply by gamze seder on May 3, 2010 at 4:01pm
Change the "happy meal" something contains vegetables and fruits.
Make it delicious (healthy+delicious)(this is the most difficult part for the food companies).
Then give toys as much as you like with that "happy meal"..
Permalink Reply by Mike10613 on May 4, 2010 at 1:51am
It would be a better idea to just to ban Happy Meals! I live in the most road congested part of England and know an idiot who drives his young son on a 16 mile round trip to buy him a happy meal. Gasoline here is now $2.00 a litre ( a litre not a gallon! 4.5 litres in a gallon!). fast foods are making people moronically stupid as well as obese.

If you have to eat minced up offal and fries with a touch of monosodium glutamate added for flavour; make your own at home!

I have been asked to meet a fellow writer at a community centre sometime this week and give help and advice. It's no problem it's only a 1/4 of a mile away. I have to pass the morons house on the way! I went a couple of weeks ago. The drive should take 2 minutes, 5 minutes at most. It took 20 minutes and just getting along 50 yards on one road took 10 minutes and I was hot in the sun and breathing in traffic fumes.

In fact considering the number of takeaways, diners and restaurants within a mile of my house they could close McDonalds altogether - I wouldn't miss it!
Permalink Reply by Eugene on November 6, 2010 at 12:11pm
Update: San Francisco this week became the first major city to pass a so-called Happy Meal ban, on the heels of Santa Clara County establishing its own prohibition of high-calorie, high-fat meals served up with a toy. [Los Angeles Times]
Permalink Reply by FEH on November 11, 2010 at 9:04pm
Yes, Because they all land in the bin, exepts the people (like myself) who

collects them for the third world.
Permalink Reply by Eugene on November 12, 2010 at 9:53am
That's awesome that you donate them to third world countries! Great job!

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