After years of pressure to stop marketing sugary sodas to children, Burger King has announced that it will be removing all soda pop products from their kids’ menus, effective immediately.
Burger King joins three other fast food chains, Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Arby’s, in providing healthier options as the default beverage in their kids meals — fat-free milk, low-fat chocolate milk or 100 percent apple juice.
“Restaurant chains that market soda as part of their children’s meals are making life harder for parents, most of whom want to reserve soda as a special, occasional treat if they allow it at all,” said the Center in a statement released after the Burger King policy change. “Fewer kids will become conditioned to think that soda should be a part of every eating out occasion.”
“While this is a great first step – we urge all fast-food restaurants to further improve upon their healthy options for children and adults by serving whole grain rolls, offering more fruit and vegetable options, reducing sodium across the menu, and adopting a comprehensive policy to limit the marketing of unhealthy food to children,” said a spokeswoman for the grass-roots organization, MomsRising.org.