By the San Jose Mercury News

A San Francisco McDonald's may have been able to skirt a new fast food law there banning free toys with unhealthy meals, but Santa Clara County's similar attempt appears to have more teeth.

A Stanford study released this week found that four fast-food chains in the unincorporated areas of the county are actually making solid efforts to comply with the law prohibiting restaurants from giving away toys with meals that don't meet minimal nutrition criteria.

On the positive side, at least one Taco Bell stopped giving out free toys like "Atomic Man with Gushing Alien" with fattening kids' meals, and a Wienerschnitzel held back on toys like "Wienie babies."

The affected restaurants decreased marketing of the toys and highlighted healthier meals, but none of them complied with the spirit of the ordinance implemented in August 2010: Not one added healthier options to the menu.

"In the first four months, given that these were global and national chains, I think they were definitely taking steps in the right direction," said Jennifer Otten, a postdoctoral scholar at the Stanford Prevention Research Center and the lead author of the study published Thursday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

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