McDonald’s is making some changes to its Happy Meal that will make it a healthier option by 2022. Tony Spitz has the details.
Burgers and chicken nuggets are still the mainstay of the Happy Meal. But on Thursday McDonald’s announced its goal to market more balanced kids meals around the globe.
The company says by the end of 2022, at least 50 percent or more of the kids meal options listed on menus will meet new global Happy Meal nutrition criteria: Meals will have 600 calories or less; no more than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat; no more than 650 mg sodium; and no more than 10 percent of calories from added sugar.
These goals build on the commitments McDonald’s has made to improve options for kids. And, in many cases, these goals represent small tweaks. For instance, to reduce sugar, McDonald’s locations in the U.S. have already switched to organic apple juice that is lower in sugar and calories. Now, the company plans to reformulate chocolate milk to a lower-sugar version. In addition, they will downsize the size of the fries served with the six-piece Chicken McNugget Happy Meal. Currently it comes with a standard small fry, but going forward this will change to a smaller kiddie size.
