Through a partnership with The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, McDonald’s announced at the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting a commitment to increase customers’ access to fruit and vegetables and help families and children make informed choices in keeping with balanced lifestyles.

Together the Alliance and McDonald’s agreed that this commitment would include retaining an independent, reputable third-party organization to verify progress on the commitment in a clear and transparent manner.

McDonald’s has announced the selection of Keybridge LLC, a Washington-DC based economic and public policy consulting firm, to conduct all monitoring and evaluation for the following commitments:

· Provide customers a choice of a side salad, fruit or vegetable as a substitute for French fries in value meals. (Salad, fruit or vegetable option will vary per participating market.)
· Promote and market only water, milk, and juice as the beverage in Happy Meals on menu boards and in-store and external advertising, including removing all soda logos and images of cups with soda from Happy Meal section of menu board (where it exists)
· 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

Keybridge will monitor McDonald’s implementation of these commitments in 20 major global markets, including the U.S., representing more than 85 percent of global sales. The verification will include all pieces of the commitment, which will be implemented in 30-50 percent of 20 major markets within three years and 100 percent of the 20 markets by 2020.

Keybridge was selected as the evaluator of the McDonald’s and The Alliance for a Healthier Generation partnership after a competitive RFP process.