California-based fast food chain Jack in the Box will no longer offer toys as part of its kids meals, the company told Nation’s Restaurant News. The chain is the first QSR to take this step. 

 

The company denied that it is removing toys due to pressure from activists for healthier food for kids; instead, the company said that toys were not important to its marketing efforts. Jack in the Box has recently begun offering healthier menu choices for kids, including apple bites with caramel as a substitute for fries.

 

San Francisco recently banned toys in kids’ fast food meals that don’t meet nutritional requirements over the mayor’s veto (see “Happy Meal Veto Overridden”), the first city in the U.S. to regulate marketing to kids by QSRs.