(Mirror Daily, United States) – In a likely bid to keep its customers happy and healthy long enough to further add to its profit margins, McDonald’s unveiled several changes to kids’ meals to lower the amount of salt, fat, and calories they put into their bodies.
For instance, the Happy Meal will no longer come with a cheeseburger, so parents will have to order it separatedly. Plus, the serving size of French fries in the six-piece Chicken McNuggets menu will be trimmed.
Also, the company promised to lower calorie intake of Happy Meals to just 600 calories by late 2022, with just 10% of the calorie load coming from unhealthy fats known as saturated fats, and an extra 10% from sugar. Salt intake will also be dramatically reduced.
The burger chain said that, by the start of this summer, all Happy Meals will meet these ambitious targets when it comes to sugar and unhealthy fats. By June, 78% of the kids’ meals will meet the salt requirement.
Other Incoming Changes
McDonald’s wants to push things even further and reduce the amount of sugar in chocolate milk while making bottled water an option on the Happy Meal menu. The Happy Meal will reportedly add new, healthier food items, like the Junior Chicken which was first rolled out in January in Italy.
McDonald’s also promised to advertise healthier menu options for kids via mobile apps, packaging, and good ol’ fashion commercial ads. As of now, less than one-third of Happy Meal options meet the new targets across 20 markets, including U.S., Canada, Argentina, Russia, and Hong Kong.
It is not the first time the fast-food chain revamps its kids’ meals to make them healthier. In 2004, it introduced apples in the menus, while a year prior, it had removed soda from the Happy Meal menu.
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