Toys in Happy Meals Banned

California county bans toys in some children's meals to help fight obesity.
NBC Nightly News (4/27, story 13, 0:35, Williams) reported, "The latest target in the fight against childhood obesity comes from California's Silicon Valley, where county officials there proposed a ban on toys in fast food kid meals like Happy Meals and the like. The ban would apply with any meal with more than 485 calories or 600 milligrams of salt."
The New York Times (4/28, B6, McKinley) reports, "In what it described as a blow against the fattening temptations of fast food, the board of supervisors in Santa Clara County, south of San Francisco, voted Tuesday to ban the promotional toys that often accompany child-size portions of cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets if those meals don't meet certain nutritional standards." Notably, "the criteria, which are based on federal standards and recommendations from the nonprofit Institute of Medicine, would apply to all fast-food restaurants giving away toys in meals intended for children."
The Los Angeles Times (4/28, Bernstein, Times) reports, "The board, whose jurisdiction extends only to the unincorporated parts of the county, including much of Silicon Valley, voted 3 to 2 in favor of the ban after a contentious meeting that included more than an hour of testimony on both sides."