McDonald's Phasing Out Supersize Fries, Drinks

Oakbrook, Illinois-In a sign of the times,McDonald'sis getting rid of the extra-large portions that had become one of its signatures. The burger giant said it has begun phasing out Supersize fries and drinks in its more than 13,000 U.S. restaurants and will stop selling them altogether by year's end, except in promotions.

The company cited the need to trim a menu that has expanded in recent years and said eliminating supersizing is only part of that effort. "The driving force here was menu simplification," spokesman Walt Riker said after McDonald's disclosed the change in strategy in a brief statement. "The fact of the matter is not very many Supersize fries are sold."

The move is part of McDonald's "Eat Smart, Be Active" initiative, which it launched last year under first-year CEO Jim Cantalupo and U.S. operations chief Mike Roberts in an attempt to revive then-stagnant U.S. sales. McDonald's added entree salads with great success last year and has been moving to provide more fruit, vegetable and yogurt options with its Happy Meals. The other changes include making bagels an optional breakfast product, dropping 2 percent milk in favor of exclusively 1 percent and otherwise tweaking the size and choice of items in order to come up with a "core" menu that reflects customers' preferences. -Associated Press