MIAMI — Burger King Corp. has announced that it is limiting sodium in all of its Kids Meals advertised to children under 12 years old. Menu items include Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, BK Fresh Apple Fries, caramel dipping sauce and Hershey's 1 percent Low Fat Milk.
The initiative limits sodium to 600 milligrams or less, beginning with its current advertised Kids Meals, and is part of the corporation's BK Positive StepsSM commitment to help children eat and live better.
The Macaroni & Cheese meal is the first meal to meet the new criteria. Other Kids Meal options that meet the criteria are currently in development and will be rolled out by summer 2009.
In addition, Burger King Corp. also announced that it would further enhance the nutritional profile of Kids Meals advertised to children under 12 years old by emphasizing beneficial nutrients. Specifically, Burger King Corp.'s advertised Kids Meals will now also provide a "good source" or "excellent source" of at least two of the following nutrients: calcium, potassium, fiber, magnesium or vitamin E. These nutrients are identified by the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans as the nutrients that most American children do not get enough of and that are important for normal growth and development.
Burger King's current advertised Kids Meal, consisting of Burger King Corp.'s new nutritional criteria, supplements its advertising pledge to the Council for Better Business Bureaus' (CBBB) Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, in which Burger King Corp. committed to limit 100 percent of its advertising to children under 12 years old to meals that meet nutritional criteria, based on federal dietary guidance.
In addition to the BK Positive Steps initiatives, the company has identified more than 350 Burger King meal combinations of 650 calories or less, which is one-third of a 2,000 calorie diet. Examples of these meal combinations will soon be featured on tray liners in participating Burger King restaurants in New York City, and then rolled out on tray liners nationwide, as well as online at www.BK.com/positivesteps.
As part of the BK Positive Steps nutrition program, Burger King Corp. has executed a number of other initiatives such as the elimination of all trans fat cooking oils and ingredients in U.S. and Canadian Burger King restaurants; the development of a Nutrition Advisory Panel consisting of five leading health and nutrition third-party experts; the introduction of fresh fruit with BK Fresh Apple Fries as well as the use of 100 percent recyclable Kids Meal bags.
