Cucumber sticks have replaced carrot sticks as the healthy component of a Happy Meal at McDonalds outlets for the rest of this summer.

The fast food chain says research has shown that cucumber is one of the easiest ways to up children’s fruit and veg intake, with almost half of parents naming the salad ingredient as a go-to when it comes to achieving their kids’ five a day.

McDonalds introduced a veggie Happy Meal earlier this year.

Head of family marketing Marie Emery commented: “It can be tricky to get kids to enjoy their recommended fruit and vegetable intake but customers told us more than a third of children already eat cucumber between two and three times a week.”

Cucumber is a fruit, related to the melon, and is made up of 95% water. The biggest one ever,grown in southern China, measured 170 centimetres long and weighed 70 kilos. 

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