”It is unfortunate that McDonalds now has abandoned its good principle of a completely non-alcoholic restaurant environment for children and young people,” says the President of Sweden’s largest sobriety association, Sven-Olov Carlsson, president of the temperance movement IOGT-NTO, to Drugnews.

A McDonalds-restaurant, Sky City, has after applications get authorized to serve strong beer. They point out that it is a distinctive international adult environment of travellers used to being able to order beer.

But IOGT-NTO, who are critical of the permission, have found out that a third of the guests at the McDonalds airport restaurant consist of children and adolescents. Surrounding restaurants had only five to ten per cent of young guests. Three of four children and adolescents in the survey visited McDonalds.

– Families with children choose mainly McDonald’s when they need to eat at Arlanda. It is regrettable that McDonalds now breaks with its past principle. There is a need for more alcohol-free environments, not fewer, says Sven-Olov Carlsson.
In a letter to the McDonalds management Mr. Carlsson now urges the hamburger chain, which has 230 restaurants in Sweden, not to serve alcohol, and thus destroy a brand name that many families have had confidence in.

– We now invite the company to accept a social responsibility and develop alcohol-free zones in the country, preferably in a joint project with us, ”says Sven-Olov Carlson.

• On Facebook, a group has started demanding “Stop the serving of beer in McDonalds.”