McDonald’s Restaurants in Canada are changing things up when it comes to some of the Happy Meal options on their menu. These child-oriented meals are going to be altered to have lower sodium in such items as the grilled chicken snack wrap. While this change entails decreasing the excess sodium in a variety of products, my hope is that this will lead to impacting other menu items as well.
This move comes at a time when the focus in Canada and the rest of the world are working to counteract the obesity and health crisis we are all facing. Fast food restaurants often find the finger being pointed at them for contributing to the epidemic, which makes these types of changes extremely important.
The more that fast food chains make these positive changes the better for the millions of people who eat at their establishments. I encourage those who eat at these chains to order the salads and healthier menu options. This will show the demand for wanting these types of options, and next thing you know, you’ll see more options that are healthy and taste good!
I wish I could say that McDonald’s in the U.S. was taking on a similar initiative, especially when Richard Ellis, the senior vice-president of communications and public affairs at McDonald’s Canada commented that “I’d call it a significant reduction in sodium.”
Many restaurants see reducing sodium as a big risk, as it can very much impact the flavor of menu items. This may be the reason McDonald’s Canada is only making changes to some Happy Meal options and not to the majority of food items sold by the chain. My recommendation is to eat fewer of your meals at fast food establishments and to try to select items that are lower in sodium in fat.