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Get your free copyThe 1500-seat venue will stretch over two floors and is one of four McDonald’s restaurants opening on the East London site, including one in the athletes’ village in Stratford
Hackney MP Diane Abbott, who is also Shadow Minister for Public Health, recently expressed her opposition to the Hackney Citizen, claiming the plan will help contribute to the child obesity epidemic.
“Plonking the world’s biggest McDonald’s in the middle of the Olympics site, with the eyes of the entire world on Britain, gives out completely the wrong message,” she says. “I am calling on the Government to review its relationship with the manufacturers and retailers that are damaging our children’s health.”
“It is absurd that the government is positioning McDonald’s, Coca Cola and Cadbury’s at the forefront of the London Olympics. The government is creating a ticking time bomb with their inaction on public health,” she adds.
Former Olympic boxer Amir Khan has also criticised the decision, saying, “It is clearly sending the wrong signal to kids and young people. If we want them to be healthy and educate them to eat healthily, we need to think about approaching them in a different way, especially around sport.”
However, the Olympic organisers have been quick to reject the claims, insisting that a wide variety of food will be on offer at the site. McDonald’s has been an Olympic sponsor for 35 years and will be the only branded restaurant on site.