It was announced that Burger King has dropped soft drinks from the children’s menu boards. The fast-food company has replaced the soft drinks with 100% apple juice, low-fat chocolate milk and fat-free milk.
Still, Burger King has kept the soft drink varieties on their general menus, but they would need to be ordered separately.
Burger King isn’t the first fast food chain to take this measure, both McDonald’s and Wendy’s have removed carbonated sugary drinks from their children’s menus.
The change was made by Burger King last month, but it wasn’t announced officially because it wanted to allow its franchise members to adapt to the change without any pressure from the media.
Burger King released a statement in which it said that it was adopting the nutrition standards for children set by the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, which is a voluntary industry standard for marketing and advertising for children. The company said:
BKC reviews its menu and nutrition criteria on an ongoing basis to ensure it is consistent with established scientific and government standards.
The companies that have adhered to the CFBAI nutrition standards, are committed to only advertise for better-for-you products to children under the age of 12.
Professor of food distribution and policy at the University of Guelph, Sylvian Charlesbois, said that both McDonald’s and Burger King are making important moves in an attempt to get the attention of health conscious millennials and baby boomers.
The financial impact of such a massive change will not be known until the summer, when the sales increase for fast food restaurants, but analysts believe Coca Cola and Pepsi are going to feel the change.
Nutritionists agree that sugary soft drinks contribute to child obesity, as they are a top source of calories in the diet of kids.
McDonald’s sales have been dropping in North America, as consumers want to eat nutritious foods when they eat out. In an attempt to regain customers, McDonald’s said that it would only select chicken that is free for antibiotics for their famous chicken nuggets.
Burger King sales, on the other hand, have been growing by 3.6% in Canada and the U.S. in the third quarter of the previous year.
Image Source: Ziua Constanta