No more cheeseburgers and chocolate milk?
That’s the go, according to the latest word from McDonald’s. The popular fast food chain is swapping out childhood favourites for healthier options in an effort to cut down on calories, sodium, saturated fat and sugar.
The Happy Meal changes are set to take place in the United States by June 2018 with Australian Macca’s also implementing some swaps to the much-loved Happy Meal.
Cheeseburgers and choc milk get the boot
In America, both cheeseburgers and chocolate milk are getting the flick from the Happy Meal menu. Parents can still order the favourites, but they won’t be listed on the menu or advertised, making it less likely kids will ask for them. Instead of chocolate milk, kids can choose from low sugar juice and water. No soft drink either.
600 calories or under
Another big change is that all Happy Meal options need to come in at 600 calories or under and have less than 650 milligrams of sodium. They also want less than 10 percent of the meal’s calories to come from saturated fat and added sugar.
Small fries made even smaller
McDonalds confirms that popular menu item, the six-piece nuggets, will stay. But the fries served in the meal are shrinking from small to mini size (or kid-sized).
All of these changes are designed to help parents make smarter, healthier choices for their kids and cut back on the rate of childhood obesity. In America, one in three teenagers or kids are overweight or obese. And one in four Aussie kids are overweight or obese, official figures show. Many blame fast food for these numbers.
In the McDonald’s official press release, Steve Easterbrook, president and CEO, wrote, “We recognise 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.”
What about Australia?
These changes will impact our Maccas too. At least half of the Happy Meal options must meet its new nutritional guidelines.
While Happy Meals here already serve apple slices and water as an option, we can expect Maccas to potentially add items like sliced veggies and grilled chicken to the menu.Â
We’re not sure kids will be too happy with the new Happy Meal. But, hey, at least it may stop their constant requests for Maccas for dinner!
Looking for more major news from the food front? Have a look at the nationwide recall on the sold-out and highly-sought after Cadbury Caramilk chocolate bar.Â
4 Comments
Parents can ask for fruit drink or chocolate to be replaced by bottled water. I know a family who do that most times. Not all sliced vegetables are suitable for young children who don’t have enough teeth to chew properly. Slices of apple go brown very quickly. They cannot be sliced in advance and retain their complete flavour. Grilled chicken dries out quickly. To some children chips are a rare treat. I can see Maccas sales dwindling more than they are anticipating.
Honestly what crap
All it will mean for many is they will just order a small cheeseburger meal and then purchase the toy seperatly
Its not Maccas fault that children are obese, its the parents fault for not choosing better choises for there children. How about just saying NO to a child pestering for the unhealthy food all the time. Yes in proportion or as a treat is fine but seriously you are in charge of your own children, not the fast food chains, if your child is overweight/obese due poor poor diet its no ones fult but your own.
I honestly think this is ridiculous. If parents are so concerned about their kids weight, should they being having macca’s. I let my boys aged 5&6yo have McDonald’s as a treat a couple of times a year so having grilled chicken and veggies and no cheeseburgers or chocolate milk really isn’t going to be a treat anymore