McDonald’s fires back at ‘food police’

• Reprints

AP File

McDonald’s Corp. brass is calling critics who blame the fast-food giant for the growing obesity rate in the U.S. and other developed nations — including its child Happy Meals — “food police.”

Regulators and activists have recently turned up the heat on initiatives to combat the high-calorie, high-fat meals.

“We’ve seen many years of someone trying to dictate behavior through legislation. Our Happy Meals have been supported by parents since the 1970s. The nutrition of Happy Meals, which include apples, meets FDA guidelines,” CEO Jim Skinner told the Financial Times. “We sell choices on the menu that make our customers feel better.”

San Francisco’s board of supervisors in November voted to stop restaurants from offering toys with meals that didn’t comply with limits on calories, sodium, sugar and fat. The ban takes effect in December 2011.

The Oak Brook-based fast food leader has recently become aggressive in answering critics.

In July, McDonald’s rebuffed a watchdog group’s threat of a lawsuit against it if it did not dump the toys from the meals. The group, The Center for Science in the Publics Interest, had called the use of toys to entice kids to eat Happy Meals “unfair and deceptive marketing” that “is illegal under various state consumer protection laws.”

Skinner said the Happy Meal toys are staying — as McDonald’s customers want.

“Internet sites, blogs and network surveys suggest that public opinion is running overwhelmingly against your premise,” Skinner wrote in response. “Our customer websites and phone lines at McDonald’s are also busy, with more than nine out of 10 customers disagreeing with your agenda.”