The time has come to kiss the cheeseburger Happy Meal from the McDonald’s menu goodbye. I bet you’d have never thought the day would come when McDonald’s would get on the “healthy” bandwagon, but you can say that this is their attempt at heading in that direction. Losing the cheeseburger Happy Meal is McDonald’s way of trying to make the kids meals healthier, which is a true bummer for all cheeseburger lovers, let me tell you.
Why, oh why, are they doing this?
It was mainly health reasons that McDonald’s decided to take the cheeseburger Happy Meal off the menu. By doing this, they will get all of their kids meals under 600 calories, which is a true feat for a fast-food restaurant. The cheeseburger Happy Meal was also incredibly high in sodium and sugar, so getting rid of it will hopefully urge customers to order healthier options.
McDonald’s highlights how the removal of this item will lead to a 20 percent calorie reduction, 50 percent added sugar reduction, 13 percent saturated fat reduction, and 17 percent sodium reduction. These are some impressive numbers if you ask me.
It’s also the end of the classic chocolate milk era
Just when you thought this news could not be any worse, McDonald’s is also saying goodbye to their original chocolate milk available with Happy Meals, and reformulating it to have less sugar. In my opinion, I’d rather not have any chocolate milk at all than have reduced sugar chocolate milk. But, this is truly heartbreaking news. Bottled water will not be the same.
But the cheeseburgers will still be available
Even though they won’t be on the menu as an option, customers will still technically be able to order the cheeseburger Happy Meals if they ask. So no worries, it's not completely gone, just missing from the menu. No major biggie.
The changes are coming this summer
These changes will not begin to take effect until June of this year and will continue until 2022 (aka, it’s going to be slow going for these changes to be seen in participating McDonald’s).
So even though the McDonald’s menu is saying goodbye to the cheeseburger Happy Meal and traditional chocolate milk, don't panic, they will still be available. All you have to do is ask.