McDonalds being sued for 'luring kids' with happy meals

[AriannasMama]

I'm again going to say its stupid to sue Mcdonalds for this reason. Like rubixcyoob said, NO ONE makes you eat it, you don't walk past a Mcdonalds and have someone shoving a burger down your mouth, if you chose to eat it enough to make you fat then thats your own damn fault. With the exception of a few things, nothing is really bad for you if you have it in moderation. Alcohol won't kill you if you just have a drink or two, Mcdonalds wont kill you or make you fat if you just have a burger now and then.

 

[BlackBerry25]

Yes you can sue in Canada for a bar serving you alcohol when you are already drunk. They are supposed to cut you off.

 

[xemmax]

Yes you can sue in Canada for a bar serving you alcohol when you are already drunk. They are supposed to cut you off.

same in england - it's against the law to serve someone who is drunk.

 

[rubixcyoob.]

Ehm, that's missed the whole point. They aren't supposed to serve you if too drunk but that would be the same as saying you aren't supposed to serve some fast food if they're already fat.
You cannot simple sue a bar for serving alcohol to a normal person because they enticed you in. Just like you cannot sue for 'luring' children in.
Will power and responsibility. People should gain some.

 

[BlackBerry25]

Will power is not enough to stop most addictions.

 

[Char.due.jan]

How can you be addicted to food?!

 

[BlackBerry25]

...

Addictive things are added to food.

 

[CRWx]

I don't think they should be sued for this. You make the decision to eat it nobody else. You could sue most things in the world if we went by the luring thing

 

[rubixcyoob.]

Will power is not enough to stop most addictions.

We are talking about children and happy meals here.
Are you saying these children have became addicted to happy meals therefore their parents cannot say no? That they became addicted because the happy meal toys 'lured' them in?

Honestly, if you are going to be a parent you need to have will power to say no every now and then - especially in regards to junk food.
If parents see their children become obese because they do not (and it is because they do not, not because they can not) say no to a McDonalds it is personal liability.

Happy meal toys are not 'luring'. All fast food chains like Burger King and KFC use them too. It's a level playing field. Parents just need to parent and say no every now and then.

 

[snowy-willow]

I am fat, very overweight. whose fault is it? MINE!

I am not a huge fast food eater - yeah sometimes I will have it but to be honest I don't really enjoy it.

Surely if people start sueing fast food companies they should also start sueing crisp (chip) companies, chocolate companies etc..

Personally I would love to see added tax to junk food and see that tax used to make healthy foods cheaper. The fact you can buy rubbish food for so little yet healthy food on the whole can cost more is stupid. However I do also feel that lack of education with regards to cooking is also a huge problem. So many people don't know how to cook thus making it seem cheaper and easier to buy the ready made junk.

 

[iceylou]

its def down to parents to not buy junk food. and yes there are lots of additives in junk food especially with mcdonalds, its to make the food last longer and taste better. msg was always used to "enhance" the flavour of food but its not used/allowed anymore, well its supposed to be banned .

i work with my sis and my nephew and they own 4 fish and chip shops. we use real potatoes for our chips, 25kg bags of maris pipers, we peel them and chip them. fair enough they are cooked in fat but we got tests down on the amount of fat in them and we were amazed at how little was in them, its down to how they are cooked. no additives are used in our food and we will not put anything on the menu that we feel doesnt taste right or is fake. by law we have to have a sign with details of where we get all our supplies from (meat, spuds etc)

its also down to ppls taste for "bad food". we sell mushy pea pie fritters, bought in, we started to make our own with real peas and freshly made every day, all our customers complained and said they didnt want cheap crap and wanted the real fritters back. we did the same with our burger meats, got a butcher to mince up proper cuts of beef and make into burgers, again customers complained and wanted the real burger meats back we cant win.

 

[Linzi]

If your kid wants a happy mean, and you don't want them to have one, say 'no'.

Problem solved.

 

[iceylou]

perfect, short and sweet answer.

 

[AriannasMama]

Exactly, and when Arianna is old enough I wont have a problem with getting her a happy meal for a special occasion, now in the US they give you happy meals with a teeny thing of fries that literally has maybe 5 fries in it, a bag of apples, then your burger or chicken and you can get milk or juice instead, its about making healthy choices. Has anyone ever seen a child under the age of 10 walk to a Mcdonalds by themselves and order a happy meal? lol

 

[amygwen]

I think it's ridiculous and I would be so sad if they eliminated all the toys from all the McDonalds happy meals. Just as others have said, I think the main problem is the parents. McDonalds has started offering healthy choices, like substituting apples for fries, which makes a hell of a difference. If you teach your children healthy eating habits, than they won't give you a hassle if you make them get the apples instead of fries!

I love McDonalds, I used to eat there quite a lot when I was little, I would be so sad if they didn't have toys in their happy meals anymore!

 

[Nibblenic]

I think McDonalds is at best a treat. And why shouldnt there be toys in a meal aimed at children.

At the end of the day if you dont want to go to Mcdonalds iwth your child you say NO! Personally I only go to Mcdonalds once in a blue oon and there are so many alternatives there now that is isnt impossible to eat healthy whilst there.

I dont understand where we've gotten to with parenting that we think that advertising some how trumps what we say?!

 

[BlackBerry25]

The thing is...those healthy choices ARE NOT HEALTHY. Even parents have been tricked into thinking so. *sigh*

 

[Nibblenic]

Well no they arent exactly home cooked stew or anything.

However how many places have you been where the childrens menu consists of

.... and chips.

Be it burgers/fish fingers/ nuggets/ hot dog whatever. The only way to make truely healthy choices for you child when you are out is to bring your own food. Which is the only way you truely know whats in what they are eating.

I think its pretty obvious that any choices at Mcdonalds/burger king/kfc/subway bascially any convience food places. It isnt going to be healthy there is always going to be high salt sugar and fat. But you can change your diet over the day or week to compensate for treats like this. But thats all they should be treats and no part of you daily or even weekly diet.

Its up to us as parents what we put in our children. Advertisers and our children dont control our choices and decisions

 

[tallybee]

Madness, people need to take some responsibility for their own actions

Spot on.

Too much of this 'pass the blame' mentality in society. We do have the choice whether or not to buy our kids that junk. We also do have the responsibility to say 'no' to our children when they demand junk.