McDonald's restaurants throughout the state of Colorado will offer free breakfast menu options for children under age 15 accompanied by a parent or guardian as part of a statewide nutrition program, The Gazette reports.
The restaurant chain's offer will be available to all children from the hours of 6 to 9 a.m. and includes an Egg McMuffin or Egg White Delight McMuffin, apple slices and 1 percent white milk or Minute Maid Orange Juice.
The back-to-school initiative was also implemented in Colorado last year, where thousands of young students and their guardians packed restaurants around the state.
"We had lines out the doors for some of the restaurants," Debbie Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Petersen Communications told The Gazette.
McDonald's has also experienced criticism in recent years for a number of issues: sketchy Chinese suppliers, low employee wages and immigration discrepancies are just a few to name.
"We are committed to the highest standards of food safety, and our customers are always our No. 1 priority," McDonald's said in a statement following its recent food scandal, Nation's Restaurant News reports.
"If confirmed, the practices outlined in the report are completely unacceptable to McDonald's. ... The matter is being thoroughly investigated, and we are cooperating fully with the authorities."
The restaurant chain's free breakfast program is expected to run solely during back-to-school season.
