San Francisco bans toys in high-fat meals

LOS ANGELES - San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to ban toy giveaways with meals high in fat and sugar, a move that would prohibit most of McDonald's Happy Meals as they are now served in the restaurants.

The measure would make San Francisco the first major city in the United States to forbid restaurants from offering a free toy with meals that contain more than set levels of calories, sugar, and fat.

The ordinance would also require restaurants to provide fruits and vegetables with all meals for children that come with toys.

"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."

Just after the vote, 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."

The ban, already enacted in a similar measure by California's Santa Clara County, was opposed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who was vying to be lieutenant governor in Tuesday's election. But because the measure was passed by eight votes - one more than needed to override a veto - his opposition does not matter unless one of the supervisors changes his or her mind after the promised veto.

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 percent of the calories come from fat.

Over the last few weeks, the proposed ban caused a stir online and on cable television, with supporters arguing that it would help protect children from obesity, and opponents seeing it as the latest example of the nanny state gone wild.

Supervisor Bevan Dufty, whose swing vote provided the veto-proof majority, said critics should not dismiss the legislation as a nutty effort by San Franciscans: "I do believe the industry is going to take note of this. I don't care how much they say, 'It's San Francisco, they're wacked out there.' "

McDonald's is not the only fast-food chain to offer toys with children's meals - and the California Restaurant Association also urged a no vote - but its prominence made it a key face of the opposition.

"Parents tell us it's their right and responsibility - not the government's - to make their own decisions and to choose what's right for their children," said Proud, the McDonald's spokeswoman.

Ironically, the vote was held the same day that McDonald's reintroduced its McRib sandwich nationwide, a pressed-pork patty that gets half its calories from fat and has a cultlike legion of fans.