Peanut ban not enforceable, councillors decide

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Vending machines in city recreation facilities may contain peanuts - but at least 20 per cent of the items they sell will be classified as "healthy" snacks, Toronto Council decided last week.

The rules will be going out in a request for proposals seeking vending machine operators for the city's recreation centres. The city has been looking for a new operator since March, when the city's agreement with the company Mr. Vending was terminated.

Councillors and staff have also been grappling with ways to make the new vending machines serve healthier fare.

On Thursday, July 17, councillors debated the recommendations from the city's government management committee, which was recommending that the new vending machines offer 20 per cent healthy snacks that are also culturally diverse.

Ward 24 (Willowdale) Councillor David Shiner tried to convince councillors to take matters a step further, and ban products with peanuts as a listed ingredient as well. Shiner, who said he suffers from a bee sting allergy, said the city should do everything it can to protect users who may have serious peanut allergies as well.

"Why do we want to put anyone who comes into a community centre up to that kind of risk when we can avoid it?" he said.

"There are hundreds of choices for snacks. To simply say you can't have a peanut-butter cup is in no way going to prevent people from getting a snack in one of our centres. It's going to provide a better margin of safety."

However, other councillors worried that the peanut ban would give a false sense of security, and also make it harder to find snacks that were "healthy."

"If you're going to mandate healthy snacks and prohibiting peanuts, you're prohibiting the vast majority of so-called healthy snack foods," said Ward 15 (Eglinton-Lawrence) Councillor Howard Moscoe.

Ward 4 (Etobicoke Centre) Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby said the city could open itself up for lawsuits if it provides false assurances that city facilities are peanut-free.

"Up until this point in time we have had a little message on the machines saying may contain peanuts," she said. "That's good enough."

Council finally approved the RFP, which will also include five locations that serve entirely healthy snacks.