Burger King Adds Low-Cal Fries to Kids' Meals

Burger King will make its new, lower-calorie Satisfries the standard fries in its Kid's Meals.

Introduced last September, Satisfries have 40 percent less fat and 30 percent fewer calories than rival McDonald's fries. Both chains have been promoting apple slices as an option moms can choose instead of fries with kids meals. But Burger King is acknowledging what every mother knows: Kids would rather have fries.

"Kids don't want to give up their favorite snacks," Eric Hirschhorn says in a release announcing the switch. "By adding our lower fat, fewer calorie french fry to the Kid's Meal as the standard fry, we are providing an option parents can feel better about giving to their kids, without children having to compromise on taste."

Burger King revamped its kids meals in 2011 with new packaging and a new crown but has given the meals far less marketing support than McDonald's devotes to its Happy Meals. The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity estimated McDonald's U.S. spending on Happy Meals at $42 million in 2012.