(CNN) -- Back in the day, Bill Clinton was the highest-profile devotee of the highest-calorie items on the McDonald's menu. What a difference a few years -- and a quadruple-bypass surgery -- can make. The fast food giant and the former Big Mac fan-in-chief announced they were coming together Thursday to help fight the scourge of obesity. Instead of just French fries to go with your value meal, McDonald's soon will offer you a choice of a side salad, fruit or vegetable as a substitute. Video: Newt Gingrich on his love affair with McDonald's food They also pledged to promote only water, milk and juice as the beverage that comes with a Happy Meal and to use Happy Meal packaging to "generate excitement" for fruits and vegetables.
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Bill Clinton was once the most famous aficionado of Big Macs and other high-calorie offerings
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He and McDonald's say they are now joining efforts to help fight obesity
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McDonald's will soon offer a fries substitute: Side salad, fruit or vegetable
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Center for Science in the Public Interest offers limited applause for the move
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"If we want to curb the catastrophic economic and health implications of obesity across the world, we need more companies to follow @placeholder's lead and to step up to the plate and make meaningful changes" Clinton said in a McDonald's press release.