McDonald's Partners With Clinton Foundation and American Heart Association To Offer Customers Healthy Menu Options

McDonald's will be offering healthier options to their customers who want to skip the French fries in their value meals.

The fast food giant partnered with Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the Clinton Foundation and American Heart Association, to provide customers with better insight into making informed choices about a balance diet.

"We've seen voluntary agreements with industry have profound impact-including our work with the beverage industry to limit the amount of calories shipped to schools. Those agreements resulted in a 90 percent reduction in total beverage calories shipped to schools between 2004 and 2010," former U.S. President Bill Clinton said in the company's news release. "If we want to curb the catastrophic economic and health implications of obesity across the world we need more companies to follow McDonald's lead and to step up to the plate and make meaningful changes. I applaud them for doing it."

Customers will now have the salad, fruit or vegetable options for their value menu sides. The company listed the goals they want to accomplish when promoting Happy Meals to kids:

• Promote and market only water, milk, and juice as the beverage in Happy Meals on menu boards and in-store and external advertising

• Utilize Happy Meal and other packaging innovations and designs to generate excitement for fruit, vegetable, low/reduced-fat dairy, or water options for kids

• Dedicate Happy Meal box or bag panels to communicate a fun nutrition or children's well-being message

• Ensure 100 percent of all advertising directed to children to include a fun nutrition or children's well-being message

"This is an essential step in the fight against obesity. Effective promotion of healthier choices can have a substantial impact on the food and beverage choices that get made," Dr. Howell Wechsler, CEO of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, said in a news release. "It is imperative for McDonald's and other industry leaders to leverage their market share and cultural relevance to help inform and influence the way families eat outside the home."

The announcement follow's Burger King's unveiling of the new Satisfries, low-calorie, less-fat crinkle fries for those who want to indulge in their favorite treat without the guilt.