Evolving our Iconic Happy Meal

May 16, 2019


Doing Our Part to Make Balanced Meals More Accessible to Families Across the Globe

Here at McDonald’s, we’re committed to families. Whether you’re enjoying a meal in one of our restaurants or on-the-go, we want you to feel good about the options you’re feeding your family, especially when it comes to our iconic Happy Meal.

Since 2012, we’ve made changes to the U.S. Happy Meal menu in favor of a well-balanced menu, including:

  • Adding apple slices or Yoplait® Go-GURT® Low Fat Strawberry Yogurt to every Happy Meal
  • Featuring bottled water as a beverage choice and removing soda from Happy Meal Menu boards
  • Removing artificial preservatives from our Chicken McNuggets
  • Serving hamburgers withno artificial preservatives, no artificial flavors and no added colors from artificial sources. The pickle contains an artificial preservative, and customers are able to skip it if they prefer.
  • Offering every meal combination on our Happy Meal menu boards in the U.S. at 600 calories or less
  • Replacing the previous 100% apple juice served in the U.S. with Honest Kids Appley Ever After Apple Juice Drink
  • Updating our original Yoplait® Go-GURT® Low Fat Strawberry Yogurt with a brand-new recipe that contains no artificial preservatives and still has 25% less sugar than the leading kids’ yogurt*

We are proud to announce that through these changes – and our work with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation – we’ve served more than 6.4 billion fruit, vegetable, low-fat dairy and water options in Happy Meals since 2013. And while this progress is great, we’re continuing to push ourselves to provide well-balanced meals with the same craveable and delicious taste our customers love. Just last year we recommitted to supporting families by launching our Global Happy Meal Goals, which included nutrition criteria for Happy Meals for the first time.

For more information about the ingredients and nutrition in our U.S. Happy Meals, visit Make 'Em Smile with a Happy Meal.

*Yoplait® GO-GURT® at McDonald’s has 5g of sugar per 2oz. The leading kids’ yogurt has 8g per 2oz.