Mcdonald's Bans Smoking At Company-Owned Eateries

CHICAGO - McDonald's Corp. today banned smoking in its 1,400 company-owned restaurants in the United States, the second fast-food chain to make a sweeping statement about the health threat of secondhand smoke.

With today's announcement, more than 3,600 of 9,100 McDonald's stores nationwide will be smoke-free. About 2,200 voluntarily agreed to end smoking last year, including company-owned and franchised restaurants, the company said.

Arby's Inc. announced last month that it will enforce a no-smoking policy in the 257 restaurants it owns starting this summer. While the policy doesn't apply to the 1,991 outlets held by franchise holders, Arby's is urging them to go smoke-free.

Some 600 of 5,289 Burger Kings owned by franchise holders are smoke-free, and dozens of Wendy's restaurants banned smoking in 1992.