Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) Taiwan announced yesterday that from July 5 it would no longer give away toys with its children’s meals — a promotional method commonly adopted by fast food chains that has been blamed for encouraging unhealthy diets among children.
In line with the decision, the price of KFC’s children’s meals will be reduced from NT$89 to NT$69, the company said.
Ku Wen-chen (古玟禎), a senior manager with KFC’s public affairs department, said that the new policy had been adopted mainly out of environmental concerns, because most children already have many toys.
“Toys obtained from fast food restaurants very often end up in recycling bins, so we think it would be better to set a realistic price to give back to consumers,” Ku said.
KFC will also donate NT$1 for each children’s meal sold to World Vision Taiwan to sponsor the charity group’s meal delivery services for children living in remote areas, Ku said.
The decision came a month after a group of 17 lawmakers, led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Nai-shin (蔣乃辛) signed a petition calling for a ban on toys given away with children’s meals to address the increasing problem of childhood obesity.
Citing the results of a survey by the Bureau of Health Promotion, Chiang said the obesity rate among the two-to-18 age group in Taiwan has risen from 6 percent to 25 percent over the past 10 years.
Another survey by the John Tung Foundation discovered that approximately 30 percent of school children eat fast food four to five times a month, Chiang said.
Asked to comment yesterday, Chao Min-su (趙敏夙), public relations manager for Burger King in Taiwan, said her company welcomed KFC’s decision.
Chao said Burger King is also evaluating whether to stop giving away toys with its children’s meals, although she added that even if it decides to do so, the measure will only be implemented next year at the earliest because the toys are purchased annually.
McDonald’s, whose Happy Meals are popular with children, declined to comment.
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