News

Motor City puts the brakes on QSR ban idea

December 14, 2010

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, has called for a moratorium on new quick-service restaurant developments in Detroit. The group expressed concern to Detroit Mayor Dave Bing on Tuesday, saying the action is necessary because the city has the fourth-highest rate of heart disease in the United States.

According to the Detroit News, heart disease kills more than 3,400 Detroit residents every year.

The Motor City is home to 73 QSR units.

The committee’s director of nutrition, Susan Levin, said QSRs are being targeted specifically because the quality of most menu items is “rather poor.”

Mayor Bing’s spokesperson Karen Dumas said the moratorium is not on the table at this time. The city, instead, will put forth efforts to educate its residents about how to make healthier food choices.

The PCRM’s proposal to Detroit comes just one week after South Los Angeles’ two-year effort to ban QSR growth finally came to fruition.

Meanwhile, after a tumultuous year that also included a kids’ meal ban in San Francisco, and a threatened lawsuit over the use of toys in Happy Meals, the powers-that-be at McDonald’s Corp. are finally speaking out.

Earlier this week, CEO Jim Skinner told the Financial Times that Happy Meals have been supported by parents since the 1970s, their nutrition meets FDA guidelines, and the company sells choices on its menu that make its customers feel better.

From the story:

"We’ll continue to sell Happy Meals," said Skinner. The new (San Francisco) rule "really takes personal choice away from families who are more than capable of making their own decisions."