Florida Senate Committee Votes to Keep Toys in Fast-Food Kid Meals

The bill would prohibit municipalities from banning toy giveaways in quick-service restaurant children's meals.

March 14, 2011

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Last week, the Florida Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee approved a bill that would not allow localities to create laws that would prohibit fast-food restaurants from putting toys in children??s meals, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Backed by McDonald??s and other fast-food chains, the provision was placed into SB 366, which established stricter penalties for those who hand-out pizza menus and other flyers in hotels without proper authorization. The amendment specified that local governments could not adopt any rules about "matters related to the nutritional content and marketing of foods offered in such establishments."

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association asked for the language to be included, as its members wanted to be proactive in squelching any local regulations banning fast-food children??s meal toys, such as those in San Francisco and Santa Clara County.

The panel okayed the amendment without discussion and passed the entire bill 5-1.

In December, a mother filed a lawsuit against McDonald??s for including toys with its Happy Meals, claiming the toys hindered her ability to say no to her children. A Wisconsin city also is considering banning toys with children??s meals at restaurants.

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