McDonald's Introduces Automatic Fruit in Every Happy Meal

’s restaurants throughout Roswell are launching a new Happy Meal today in support of the company’s commitments to offer improved nutrition choices, which strive to help customers to make nutrition-minded choices.

To mark today's, Sept. 16, release, all greater Atlanta McDonald’s restaurants will offer a “Happy Meal Happy Hour” buy one, get one free deal on all Happy Meals and Mighty Kids Meals from 2 p.m. - 7 p.m. each afternoon through Sept. 22.

The new Happy Meal automatically includes apple slices as a side to the meal. In addition to apple slices, the meal also includes a new 1.1 ounce smaller size French fries. For those customers who prefer a side choice of apples only, two bags of apples will be available upon request.

By adding fruit in every Happy Meal, McDonald’s hopes to address a challenge children face in meeting the recommended daily consumption of produce.

“Helping their children make good nutrition choices can be a challenge for Roswell parents,” said McDonald’s owner/operator Frank Phalen. “The new Happy Meals are a good way to support parents in Roswell to encourage their children to enjoy foods that are good for them along with the foods they love by including both apples and fries as part of a balanced meal.”

McDonald’s has been offering apples as a requested Happy Meal choice since 2004 and while recent research found that 88 percent of McDonald’s customers are aware of the option, only 11 percent choose apples.

“As the dad of a young daughter, I know that helping kids make good nutrition choices can be challenging,” said Donavon Groen, president of the Greater Atlanta McDonald’s Operator’s Association. “With the new Happy Meal, we’re helping support parents in encouraging their children to enjoy food that is good for them along with the foods they love by automatically including both apples and fries as part of a balanced, kid-appropriate meal. We’re excited this new offering will introduce about 100 million cups of produce annually into the diets of our youngest customers.”

In addition to the apple addition, the sodium in the Happy Meal entrée favorite, chicken McNuggets, has been reduced by more than 20 percent since 2003. In fact, as part of its national sodium reduction efforts, McDonald’s recently reduced sodium by 10 percent in the most of its chicken menu items. More Happy Meal fruit and vegetable choices are under development and expected to roll out over the next few years.

“Recent research has shown that younger children are consuming more fruits and vegetables, but we still have a long way to go to increase consumption to meet daily recommendations for these important food groups,” according to Elizabeth Pivonka, PhD, RD, president and CEO of Produce for Better Health Foundation. “We applaud McDonald’s effort to celebrate produce in every Happy Meal which further strengthens their seven years of support in our campaign to educate children on the benefits of fruits and vegetables.”

There are several McDonald's locations in Roswell, including:

• 591 Holcomb Bridge Road
• 4661 Woodstock Road
• 1465 Holcomb Bridge Road
• 970 Mansell Road