Free Talk Live

A U.S. consumer group wants McDonald's Corp to stop using Happy Meal toys to lure children into its restaurants and has threatened to sue if the world's biggest hamburger chain does not comply within 30 days.

The San Francisco ban on providing free toys to entice children to eat unhealthy foods goes into effect Thursday, but McDonald’s plans to comply with the law by charging 10 cents a toy for their Happy Meals and donating the money to the nonprofit Ronald McDonald House.

The super-sized Queens Democrat seeking a ban on McDonald's Happy Meal toys is himself a cautionary tale on the consequences of scarfing down too many Big Macs, Marcia Comrie said.

"He doesn't do it in front of me -- he knows it's the bane of my existence," she said of her 335-pound husband's fast-food-devouring ways. "But the results are there for anyone to see."

Santa Clara County in California has just ushered in a sad day for Happy Meals -- by banning them, along with other such promotions for unhealthy kids' meals. But this sad day for McDonald's may lead to many happier ones for all those kids who might now have a better shot at growing up with healthier eating habits. That is, if you believe the ordinance will work -- and don't think the measure is altogether out of line.

Happy Meal toys and other promotions that come with high-calorie children's meals will soon be banned in parts of Santa Clara County unless the restaurants meet nutritional guidelines approved Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors.

"This ordinance prevents restaurants from preying on children's' love of toys" to sell high-calorie, unhealthful food, said Supervisor Ken Yeager, who sponsored the measure. "This ordinance breaks the link between unhealthy food and prizes."

After delaying the vote so that it would not be a campaign issue, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has now voted to ban toy giveaways in Happy Meals and similar fast-food offerings aimed at kids unless they have reduced sodium, fat and sugar content and include fruit and vegetables.

A police officer who was waiting in the drive-thru line at a McDonald's restaurant in Forsyth County is accused of pulling a gun on the customer ahead of him because the officer was angry at having to wait for his food.
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/288918/40/Cop-in-slow-McDonalds-line...

McDonald's Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul.

Attorney General Tom Corbett today announced that a consumer protection lawsuit has been filed against an Erie debt collection company accused of using deceptive tactics to mislead, confuse or coerce consumers - including the use of bogus "hearings" allegedly held in a company office that was decorated to look like a courtroom.