On May 26th,
2015, a proposed city ordinance, Article 17.02 Children’s Meals, was
unanimously approved by the Davis City Council in Davis, California. The ordinance would require restaurants and
fast food chains to make the default beverage option for a children’s meal
either milk or water. In an effort to
curb the growing epidemic of childhood obesity and related health problems, the
proposed ordinance would impose legal sanctions on fast food chains and other
restaurants that have their cashiers and waiters market soda with children’s
meals. If the purchaser opts for soda,
there will be no extra cost. The
ordinance requires consumers to request the option to have soda with the kid’s
meal, as the default will be milk or water.
If a restaurant or fast food chain is discovered to be offering soda as
the default, the city will first contact the restaurant but if the behavior
continues, the city will issue fines beginning at $100.
Restaurants and
fast-food chains were informed of the proposed ordinance through mail and
invited to the upcoming public meeting.
No restaurant or food chain responded by e-mail or phone to the letter
nor attended the meeting. Opponents to
the legislation who did attend the public meeting argued the legislation was
intrusive and unnecessary.
This novel city ordinance
proposal is in alignment with a general trend towards increasing legislation
aimed at restaurants and fast food chains to provide customers with information
to make health conscious choices. Recent changes to legislation include requiring chain restaurants and similar
establishments with at least 20 locations operating under the same name to list
the calories for every item on their menu and make available additional serving
size suggestions.
The proposed
legislation still requires a second council vote and if the ordinance is
passed, it will become effective on September 1st, 2015.
Written by Katharine Richter- Research Assistant
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