November 3, 2010
You Want a Toy With That?
By JESSE McKINLEY

SAN FRANCISCO — Lost in the nationwide electoral tumult Tuesday was another important vote, this one by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which took on one of the great (tasting) issues of our day: the Happy Meal.

The board, whose political leanings can sometimes fall somewhere between Democrat and Dadaist, passed a ban on restaurant toy giveaways unless the aforementioned meals meet certain healthy nutritional standards for calories, sodium and fat.

The bill, which passed 8 to 3, was sponsored by Supervisor Eric Mar, who had recounted how he had been horrified by his daughter’s collection of giveaway toys and envisioned the bill as a way to strike a blow against fatty, salty fast food. Mr. Mar said he hoped it would act as an incentive to fast-food companies to “provide better choices.”

McDonald’s called the bill misguided. “It’s not what our customers want,” said Danya Proud, a spokeswoman for the company, in a statement. “Nor is it something they asked for.”

Nor did the ban please Mayor Gavin Newsom, who was elected the state’s lieutenant governor on Tuesday and had said he would veto the bill, though the eight “yes” votes would be enough to override.

“The mayor firmly believes this the wrong approach to fighting childhood obesity,” said Tony Winnicker, a spokesman for the mayor.

But the board, which has often had a contentious relationship with the soon-to-be-former mayor, said its decision was backed by some unhappy facts, including a recent finding that nearly 30 percent of city fifth graders were overweight.

San Francisco is not the first place to ban such toys; Santa Clara County, to the south, did so in April.

Under the bill, any meals will have to have fewer than 600 calories, fewer than 640 milligrams of sodium and less than 35 percent of calories from fat (with an exception for some healthy items, like nuts).

Restaurants can either match those standards, or no toy for you.

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