McDonald's and Coca-Cola may be Banned from London Olympics 2012

With just a month before the London Olympics 2012 begin, the London Assembly has voted to call for a ban on the two sponsors, McDonald's and Coca-Cola.

The Olympics, an event that showcases the world's best athletic talent, should not be sponsored by companies that produce high-calorie food and drinks that may contribute to obesity, the Assembly argued.

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The new criteria would exclude companies that produce high-calorie foods and beverages, especially those that have been linked to childhood obesity.

"London won the right to host the 2012 Games with the promise to deliver a legacy of more active, healthier children across the world," the Green Party's Jenny Jones, who proposed the motion, told the assembly. 

"Yet the same International Olympic Committee that awarded the games to London persists in maintaining sponsorship deals with the purveyors of high calorie junk that contributes to the threat of an obesity epidemic."

However, a verdict has not been reached yet as to whether the ban will be implemented or not since the two food giants have a longstanding relationship with the Olympic Games.

Coca-Cola is the games' longest-running sponsor, since 1928, and McDonald's has been one since 1976. Over time, the companies have developed a mutually beneficially relationship.

Cash generated by commercial partnerships accounts for more than 40 percent of Olympic revenues, and the companies under fire have been two of the biggest contributors for many years, according to the Times.

McDonald's UK's chief executive, Jill McDonald, defended her company's offerings to the AP in May. "We do offer a breadth of menu," she said.

"You can see on the menu here we have grilled chicken wraps, we have salads, fruit smoothies as well as the more indulgent recipes that people know and love."