McDonald's is taking steps to make their meals a little bit healthier, and are effectively removing two staples from their Happy Meal menu to benefit the younger generation. The company has announced that they will be eliminating cheeseburgers and chocolate milk in an effort to reduce calories, sodium, saturated fats, and added sugars from a child's diet.
Their press release states that by "2022, McDonald's will make improvements to the Happy Meal menu across 120 markets to offer more balanced meals, simplify ingredients, continue to be transparent with Happy Meal nutrition information, reinforce responsible marketing to children, and leverage innovative marketing to help impact the purchase of foods and beverages that contain recommended food groups in Happy Meals."
Customers located in the United States will begin to see this menu change materialize as early as June. All meal options will now be updated to contain only 600 calories or less, and will be compliant with new nutrition requirements centred around added sugars and saturated fats. However, the company will only be able to adhere to 78 percent of new standards set for sodium intake.
The hamburger and Chicken McNuggets, available in either four or six piece options, will be remain on the menu come June, but customers will still be able to request a cheeseburger if they so please. Chocolate milk will also remain an option, but in a reformulated version that reduces added sugars. Bottled water will become the featured beverage displayed on Happy Meal menu boards.
Steve Eastbrook, McDonald's President and CEO, reveals that the company recognizes "the opportunity that we have to support families as one of the most visited restaurants in the world, and remain committed to elevating our food. Given our scale and reach, we hope these actions will bring more choices to consumers and uniquely benefit millions of families, which are important steps as we build a better McDonald's."