McDonald’s Happy Meal unpacked
Lots of parents have questions about McDonald’s Happy Meals. They want to know what’s in the food, how it compares to other meals, and how McDonald’s approaches the toys and marketing.
Here's where you can see how parents have gone as independent "Quality Scouts" to McDonald's farms and suppliers to report back on what goes into McNuggets and hamburgers. There's also a nutrition counter so you can check how different Happy Meal combinations compare, plus an update on toys and advertising. We hope you find all of this helpful, and we'd really value your views on McDonald's and Happy Meals - either through the Your Views spot at the bottom of this page or by asking us a question on the site.
The Quality Scouts report videos require flash player 7 or above. Please download the the latest version of flash player.
Charlotte wanted to see what goes into her daughter’s Chicken McNuggets
We have had many questions about how Chicken McNuggets are made, and what actually goes into them. So we sent an independent Quality Scout, Charlotte, a teacher and mum from Worcestershire, to make a video and written report of what goes on at McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets supplier, and it’s online here.
Other popular choices for our Happy Meals are hamburgers and cheeseburgers. Find out more about how our burgers are made by checking out the reports by our independent Quality Scouts. Louise visits a farm that supplies McDonald's, Dani-Leigh shares what she found out when she went to visit one of our burger suppliers and Mhairi discovers what it's like to work in one of our restaurants when she goes to work for the day in McDonald's in Inverness.
Check out how Happy Meals compare nutritionally
Check our quick guide to the nutritional content of all the Happy Meals McDonald’s serves - everything from calories to salt content, compared to the guideline daily amount (GDA) for an average child. You also see how they measure up against some other popular food choices for kids.
We've included some important questions parents have asked already about our Happy Meals, with answers from the relevant people right across McDonald's UK.
Happy Meal toys & advertising
McDonald’s knows a toy has long been a very popular part of the Happy Meal experience for kids. Jo from the Happy Meal team has set out how her team looks at developing the toys, while Jill, Chief Marketing Officer, McDonald's UK, gives an overview of McDonald’s principles around advertising to children.
How do you feel about Happy Meals?
Why not tell McDonald’s what you think about Happy Meals and toys? We always want to hear your opinion and we’d be grateful if you could answer a few quick questions here (you don’t need to tell us your name or anything else). We’ve also included a selection of independent links that could help simplify kids’ nutrition issues.
