"This ordinance prevents restaurants from preying on children’s love of toys” to sell high caloric, unhealthful food, said supervisor Ken Yeager, who sponsored the measure. “This ordinance breaks the link between unhealthy food and prizes.”
Voting against the measure was supervisor Donald Gage, who said parents should be responsible for their children.
The board, whose jurisdiction extends only to the unincorporated parts of the county that includes much of California’s Silicon Valley, voted three to two in favor of the ban after a contentious meeting that included more than an hour of testimony on both sides.
The toys won’t disappear right away.
As a compromise to win majority support, the five-member board agreed to put off implementing the measure for 90 days, to give the fast-food industry time to come up with a voluntary program for improving the nutritional value of children’s meals.
Toys with Kids Meals to be banned
Happy Meal toys and other promotions that come with high-calorie children’s meals will soon be officially banned in parts of Santa Clara County, unless the restaurants meet nutritional guidelines approved Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors.
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