Burger chain gets poor mark for school deal

It pointed out that the company had pledged to stop all advertising in elementary schools, and that it would only advertise its healthier options to children under 12. But CCFC said that the Happy Meal promotion "explicitly mentions cheeseburgers, French fries and soft drinks as options".

"Happy Meals featured on the report card can contain as many 710 calories, 28 grams of fat, or 35 grams of sugar," it said.

Local media reports said McDonald's offered the free meals as a reward for good grades to elementary school students in nine Florida counties, under the region's "Made the Grade" programme. It reportedly paid $17,000 to the local school board to cover printing the envelopes.

The programme was previously sponsored by Pizza Hut, which dropped out last year.

In other participating counties, students learn of the offer from announcements in school, posters at restaurants or word of mouth.

McDonald's was one of 13 large food and beverage companies that signed a Council of Better Business Bureaus pledge earlier this year that restricts advertising to children. The pledge takes effect on January 1, although the Seminole report card envelopes will be in circulation until June.

William Whitman, a spokesman for McDonald's, said the company was "evaluating" the Florida schools programme, which had been developed by a local grouping of both company-owned and franchised restaurants.

"It is important to us to ensure that our messages to our customers are consistent both locally and nationally," he said. While McDonald's supported schools through sports sponsorships, food donations and other programmes, he was not aware of any other programmes at a local level like the one in Seminole County.

To qualify for a free meal, a Seminole county student needs to score either all A or B grades in academic subjects, or have no breaches of good behaviour rules, or have fewer than two absences and no lates.

The report card itself "must be presented at time of ordering".

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