The Spanish government is considering legislation that will ban
all toys in food. The measure is aimed directly at McDonald's Happy Meals for children, which contain a toy prize. The Spanish government has decided that this will help stop obesity in children, which seems most unlikely. Time magazine reports:
Toys in children's food may be as old as Cracker Jack (the caramel-covered popcorn has had "a prize in every box" since 1912), but in Spain, the tradition may soon go the way of liquor commercials on TV and smoking in restaurants. Concerned about rising rates of childhood obesity, the Health Ministry is backing legislation that, if approved, would ban restaurants and food manufacturers from including toys and prizes with their products. It's an initiative sure to make multinational corporations -- to say nothing of untold millions of children -- unhappy, but one that health experts say is necessary.
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In addition to limiting the hours during which junk food can be advertised on TV, the bill would prohibit celebrities from appearing in any ads for foods aimed at children. And, in a move that may mean the death of the Happy Meal, it would ban companies from including toys or prizes in foods targeted to children. "The aim is to protect children from their own bad food choices, since we know that they don't always have the ability to make wise, informed decisions," says Roberto Sabrido, president of the Spanish Food Security and Nutrition Agency, the entity that drafted the proposal under the Health Ministry's direction. "We don't want them eating fast food just to get the toy."
McDonald's, Burger King and Kellogg's refused to comment on this article saying that the bill hasn't passed yet and that it could still change. A similar ban was proposed in Liverpool, England, but did not pass. At that time the McDonald's spokesman said that the ban was too broad and unworkable, and that it totally took all the fun out of eating.
Banning toys in food is not going to stop the rise in child obesity, which experts say is caused by many factors, not the least of which is the proliferation of hormones and other drugs found in milk and other basic foods. Store aisles are packed with cereals which are loaded with high fructose corn syrup, whether or not they contain a toy. Dangerous neighborhoods and parents' fears of kidnapping keep most children from walking to school and back everyday. This is not a problem with an easy fix.
