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"Mayor" Christine Quinn Is Coming For Your Happy Meals
By
Nell Casey
Published Jul 2, 2013
Modified Jul 2, 2013
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By
Nell Casey
Published Jul 2, 2013
Modified Jul 2, 2013
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Move over Nanny Bloomberg, there's a new food babysitter in town. City Council Speaker—and mayoral hopeful—Christine Quinn revealed plans to impose strict nutritional standards for children's meals at chain restaurants if she takes over at City Hall. According to The Post, Quinn would require kids meals at restaurants to meet the same federal standards for school lunches, meaning a meal would contain fewer than 650 calories, 7.2 grams of saturated fat and 740 milligrams of sodium. But what about rat parts?
Quinn outed the Applebee's grilled cheese and fries meal as a big offender, citing the 1,210 calories, 2,340 milligrams of sodium and 21 grams of saturated fat that kids gleefully shove in their faces when visiting the restaurant. “We’re telling these restaurants that when you’re marketing something to children, you’re sending a message to parents that this meal is good for children,” Quinn explained. “It doesn’t mean they can’t sell it, but if you’re going to say, ‘This is a meal for children,’ you have to make sure it meets the kind of health standards we want for children."
The regulations would only apply to restaurants with 15 or more locations in New York City, so hallucinogenic chicken fingers are safe for the time being. The proposed changes would be the latest attempt to curb childhood obesity after the great Happy Meal toy ban of 2011 threatened to take away our cheap tchotchkes. What's next, a ban on lollipops at the bank?
Tagged
applebee's
calorie counts
childhood obesity
christine quinn
happy meals
Nell Casey
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