NYC Wants to Ban Happy Meal Toys, Overweight City Councilman Leading Nanny State Charge
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on April 7, 2011
Overweight NYC City Councilman Leroy Comrie is pushing a bill to ban fast food chains from putting toys in meal packages for children
They tried something similar last year in San Francisco, now they’re trying it in New York City — ban the toys given with children’s fast food meals to stop childhood obesity.
And overweight NYC councilman Leroy Comrie (that’s “Comrie” with an “R,” not a second “M”) is leading the charge in this new Food Police/Nanny State crusade.
From NY Daily News, Overweight city councilman pushes bill to ban toys in fast food meals to promote healthy eating:
A rotund city councilman who admits his eating habits are off the scales wants to make kids’ fast food meals less happy and more healthy.
“I am an example,” said Comrie, who refused to say how much he weighs but is thought to be over 300 pounds. “If you look at me. I enjoy fast food and unhealthy eating.”
The Queens councilman on Wednesday will press the Fast Food Toy Ban Bill, which limit any meal that comes with a toy to under 500 calories.
That could mean some heavy changes for the big name chains.
According to nutrition info on McDonald’s website, Happy Meals range in calories from 380 for a burger, apple dippers and juice to 700 for a cheeseburger, fries and chocolate milk.
But Comrie’s office found that depending on what choices a kid or his parents make, the top calorie count can go to as much 1,090 calories at McDonald’s; 1,460 at Burger King; 1,080 at Wendy’s; and 680 at KFC.
“We are not trying to hurt anyone’s bottom line. We are trying to help people’s bottoms,” Comrie said Tuesday.
At least six other council members have pledged to join the Happy Meal war.
And Comrie said he expects his big idea to become a new city law as more elected leaders sign on to the fight.
“The child wants the toys. Not that fries and nuggets,” said Councilwoman Inez Dickens of Harlem.
Any restaurant caught hawking toys with crappy food would face fines ranging from $200 to $2,500 – the penalty increasing for repeat offenders.
From The Powers That Be, NY City Councilman to Introduce Bill Banning Happy Meal Toys as Soon as He’s Finished With His Big Mac & Bucket of Fries:
NY City Councilman Leroy Comrie is pushing a bill to ban Happy Meal toys because they encourage unhealthy eating.
Finally a politician finds a subject on which he’s fully qualified to speak:
The question has to be asked: Just how many Happy Meal toys did he eat as a child?
From The Lonely Conservative, Nanny Alert! NYC Councilman Wants to Ban Happy Meals:
New York City Councilman Leroy Comrie wants to ban the Happy Meal. Comrie ate too many Happy Meals as a kid, and apparently too many Super Size meals as an adult. So now he wants to ruin it for everyone, and impose stiff penalties for vendors that don’t comply.
From The Telegraph, 24-stone politician seeks to ban McDonald’s Happy Meals:
A 24-stone politician is trying to ban McDonald’s from selling Happy Meals in New York City because he claims they encourage children to eat too much fat.
Leroy Comrie, a city council member, will on Wednesday propose a bill that would prevent restaurants from giving away toys with meals containing more than 500 calories and 600mg of sodium.
The measure would effectively outlaw the Happy Meal, the boxed meal for children with a free toy that has been a staple of McDonalds’s menu for more than 30 years, across the city.
Most varieties of Happy Meal exceed Mr Comrie’s nutritional limits, which also demand that no more than 35 per cent of a meal’s calorie content comes from fat. Some options contain about 1,000 calories.
The move by Mr Comrie, a Democrat from Queens, has raised eyebrows because he is thought to weigh about 24 stones himself. He has described himself as “an example” of poor eating habits.
“The City Council can empower parents by making it harder for the fast food industry to target children with predatory marketing techniques,” he said.
McDonald’s said the measure “would not solve childhood obesity”.
A spokesman said: “We provide options for our customers and trust them to make the decisions that are right for their families. Politicians should too.”
From Camp of the Saints, Verity Begins at Home:
Hey pal, if you’ve got a problem that makes you eat like a pig, don’t take it out on the kinder. Work it out yourself, Dizzy.
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