Burger King Corp. (NYSE:BKC) announced today that it will help lead the way in promoting children’s nutrition by joining 11 major food and beverage companies that have pledged to focus their advertising to children under 12 on products that promote healthy dietary choices and lifestyles. The Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) today also approved Burger King Corp.’s advertising commitment as being consistent with the core principles set out in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative.
“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,” said John Chidsey, Burger King Corp.’s chief executive officer. “We not only want to better inform parents and kids about these new menu options but also to demonstrate through product innovation that better-for-you foods can be fun and taste good.”
As part of its advertising commitment, Burger King Corp. developed a strict set of nutrition guidelines that it will follow with respect to the food and beverage products it advertises to children under 12 years old. By December 2008 such advertising will be limited to Kids Meals that provide:
-No more than 560 calories per meal
-Less than 30 percent of calories from fat
-Less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat
-No added trans fats
-No more than 10 percent of calories from added sugars
These stringent nutritional standards are based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and other scientifically established dietary recommendations. A Kids Meal that will meet the criteria is currently in development and will be available in restaurants some time in 2008. The new Kids Meal is planned to include Flame Broiled CHICKEN TENDERS® (4 piece), MOTT’S® Organic Unsweetened Apple Sauce, and HERSHEY’®S 1% Low Fat Milk. Other innovative products are also in development including BK™ Fresh Apple Fries, fresh-cut red apples sliced to resemble real fries served in a FRYPOD™.
In addition, Burger King Corp. will:
-Restrict advertising to children under 12 that uses third-party licensed characters to Kids Meals that meet its nutrition guidelines
-Refrain from advertising in elementary schools and from product placement in media primarily aimed at children under 12
-Promote Kids Meals that meet its nutrition guidelines on its Web site
-Promote healthy lifestyles and healthy dietary choices in advertising
The Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative was established in November 2006 to shift the mix of advertising messaging to children to encourage healthier dietary choices and lifestyle choices. Burger King today joined 11 other companies that have taken the pledge: Cadbury Adams, USA, LLC; Campbell Soup Company, The Coca-Cola Company, General Mills, Inc.; The Hershey Company, Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods Inc., Mars, Inc.; McDonald’s USA, LLC, PepsiCo, Inc. and Unilever United States.