McDonald’s caps Happy Meal fat
McDonald’s has pledged to make its Happy Meals more nutritious.
The fast food giant announced yesterday, New Zealand time, that by the end of 2022, at least 50 per cent of Happy Meals listed on menus worldwide will have caps of 600 calories.
This will include caps of 10 per cent of calories coming from saturated fat, 650mg of sodium and 10 per cent of calories coming from added sugar.
By June, 100 per cent of Happy Meals in the United States will hit the calorie, saturated-fat and added-sugar targets and 78 per cent will meet the sodium criterion.
Among the changes McDonald’s is implementing are: making cheeseburgers available in Happy Meals only if customers request them; reducing the size of the fries order that comes with the six-piece Chicken McNuggets; cutting the amount of added sugar in chocolate milk; and adding bottled water as a featured beverage choice on Happy Meal menu boards.
The US company said it also will explore adding new foods to Happy Meals, such as the Junior Chicken, a grilled chicken sandwich that McDonald’s Italy introduced last month.
‘‘It’s a journey. It’s a delicate balance. Customers are looking for options today they can feel good about eating,’’ said Julia Braun, the burger chain’s head of global nutrition.
McDonald’s said it plans to use marketing, new packaging and ordertaking kiosks and mobile apps to promote the healthier food and drink options in Happy Meals.
Currently, 28 per cent of Happy Meal combinations offered on menu boards meet the company’s new criteria in in 20 major markets – the US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Taiwan and Australia.
The kids’ box has been criticised for years for featuring unhealthy food.
McDonald’s has made changes to Happy Meals, such as offering apples starting in 2004, excluding soft drinks from the Happy Meal section of its menu boards in 2013 and swapping regular juice for a less caloric and less sugary organic equivalent late last year.
McDonald’s doesn’t conduct studies on what is actually eaten, rather on what is purchased, Braun explained.
‘‘We want to serve food kids will want to eat. We do have this opportunity to influence customer choice by what’s presented,’’ she said.
On any given day, one out of three American children eats fast food and on those days, their daily caloric intake is higher than usual, according to Jennifer Harris of the University of Connecticut’s Rudd Centre for Food Policy and Obesity. –USA Today