Smiles All Around: Wholesome Choices Parents Can Feel Good About in Happy Meals
October 07, 2019
Kids might grin ear to ear when it’s time for a Happy Meal, but they’re not the only ones –parents are smiling, too.
Many of us who work at McDonald’s are moms and dads, too, so we’re glad for the wholesome choices offered in every Happy Meal. Like you, we want to feel good about options we’re feeding our families, and we’ve been working hard over the years to offer our kids and yours more wholesome options like apple slices, low fat strawberry Go-GURT® and low fat milk.
In 2013, McDonald's began working with Alliance for a Healthier Generation to develop a comprehensive global plan for 20 major markets* to increase customers' access to fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy and water by 2020. In May 2019, we announced that a majority of the 20 markets had met those commitments two years ahead of schedule, and the remaining markets are on track to achieve them by the 2020 deadline.
Since 2013, McDonald’s USA has served more than 3.4 billion fruit, low-fat dairy, and water. And since we removed soda from Happy Meal menu boards that year, we’ve seen a 15 percentage point increase in the number of Happy Meals served with milk, water or juice as the beverage choice in the U.S.
Last year we continued our commitment to families by launching our Global Happy Meal Goals, which included global nutrition criteria for Happy Meals for the first time.
Just a few more ways Happy Meals can make parents smile, too.
*20 Major Markets: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S.