McDonald's Supports Families With Changes In Happy Meals Menu

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 (Bernama) -- Fast food company, McDonald's Corporation is expanding its commitment to families with a not-for-profit Alliance for a Healthier Generation by setting bold goals in 120 markets worldwide to evolve the Happy Meal menu.

The plan is to supports the company's long-term global growth plan by leveraging its reach to impact children's meals, access to reading, and keeping families together through Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC).

McDonald's in a statement said by 2022, it would make improvements to the Happy Meal menu to offer more balanced meals, simplify ingredients, continue to be transparent with Happy Meal nutrition information, and reinforce responsible marketing to children.

It will also leverage innovative marketing to help impact the purchase of food and beverages that contain recommended food groups in Happy Meals.

McDonald's began working with the Alliance for Healthier Generation in 2013 to develop a comprehensive plan for 20 major markets to increase customers' access to a balanced meal plan and many of those markets are ahead of schedule in their progress on those prior commitments.

Currently, the company is furthering its efforts to set five new Global Happy Meal Goals through 2022 by offering balanced meals, simplifying the ingredients, exposing the nutrition information, marketing responsibly, and leveraging innovative marketing to increase food and beverages that contain recommended food groups in Happy Meals.

"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," said McDonald's president and chief executive officer, Steve Easterbrook.

By June 2018, 100 per cent of the meal combinations offered on Happy Meal menu boards in the U.S. will be 600 calories or fewer.

And 100 per cent of those meal combinations will be compliant with the new nutrition criteria for added sugar, saturated fat, and 78 per cent compliant with the new sodium criteria.

-- BERNAMA