Burger King Corp. it is joining other well-known food and beverage companies to offer healthier food items for children.
The fast food chain has adopted the Council of Better Business Bureaus’Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative formed in November 2006.Under the voluntary initiative, marketers agreed to shift their advertising messaging to kids under 12 to promote healthier dietary and lifestyle
choices.
Burger King is starting with a new Kids Menu that offers broiled chicken tenders and BK Fresh Apple Fries—sliced red apples shaped like French fries and served in the same containers as fries.
By December 2008 the company plans to advertise Kids’ Meals with 560 calories or less with 30% of the calories from fat and no added trans fats, it said. In addition, the fast food chain plans to restrict ads to children under 12 that use licensed characters to those that meet its nutrition guidelines and promote healthy lifestyles and dietary choices in advertising.
The company is also refreshing its Kids Meal choice to include broiled Chicken Tenders, organic unsweetened applesauce and low-fat milk totaling 305 calories and 8.5 grams of fat. The items will be available in restaurants in 2008, the company said.
“Our pledge and the commitment we’ve made to take positive steps to provide new and innovative food and beverage products that will provide more nutritionally balanced options for kids will ensure that our menu remains relevant to all our customers,” Burger King CEO John Chidsey said in a statement.
As part of the pledge, Burger King will consult with the bureau about the Kids Meals it intends to advertise, the company said.
Burger King joins 11 other companies that have signed on to the bureau’s initiative. They include: Cadbury Adams, Campbell Soup Co., The Coca-Cola Co., General Mills, Inc., The Hershey Co., Kellogg Co., Kraft Foods Inc., Mars, Inc. McDonald’s USA, PepsiCo. Inc. and Unilever U.S.
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