I didn't see this posted yet, but I thought it was interesting...
Disney making its theme park food healthier
Orlando Business Journal - 1:46 PM EDT Monday
The Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that it will change the foods served in U.S. theme parks in Florida and California to reduce calories, fats and sugar, and provide heatlhier alternatives to fried foods and sodas.
In addition to offering healthier options in its restaurants, Disney also plans to eliminate trans fats by the end of 2007 in its park foods and by the end of 2008 for licensed products.
Disney says it will gradually eliminate all licensed food products bearing its name or its characters that do not meet stringent health guidelines for children including limits on calories, fat, saturated fat and sugar.
Beginning this month, Disney (NYSE: DIS) says its theme park kids' meals will be served with low-fat milk, 100 percent fruit juice or water. Side dishes such as apple sauce or carrots will be offered instead of french fries.
While french fries and soft drinks will still be available, Disney says Initial tests involving 20,000 kids' meals show that as many as 90 percent of parents and kids chose the more nutritious option.
The new guidelines will be adapted internationally over the next several years. The timetable for implementing these policies is being driven by contractual arrangements, most of which lapse in two years. Earlier this year, Disney and McDonald's Corp. ended a 10-year promotional agreement.
The guidelines are based on The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and have been developed in cooperation with two experts, James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and Keith Thomas Ayoob, an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
In a press release, Ayoob says, "Disney is synonymous with fun and can play an important role in getting kids to consume a more balanced diet."
The limits include sugar, total saturated fats and calories for kid's foods, However, Disney says it will continue to license special-occasion sweets such as birthday cakes and seasonal candy as part of its product range but limit the number of indulgence items in its licensed portfolio to 15 percent by 2010.
"The Disney brand and characters are in a unique position to market food that kids will want and parents will feel good about giving them," says Disney President and CEO Robert Iger, in a written statement.
http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2006/10/16/daily8.html?f=et70&hbx=e_du
Disney making its theme park food healthier
Orlando Business Journal - 1:46 PM EDT Monday
The Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that it will change the foods served in U.S. theme parks in Florida and California to reduce calories, fats and sugar, and provide heatlhier alternatives to fried foods and sodas.
In addition to offering healthier options in its restaurants, Disney also plans to eliminate trans fats by the end of 2007 in its park foods and by the end of 2008 for licensed products.
Disney says it will gradually eliminate all licensed food products bearing its name or its characters that do not meet stringent health guidelines for children including limits on calories, fat, saturated fat and sugar.
Beginning this month, Disney (NYSE: DIS) says its theme park kids' meals will be served with low-fat milk, 100 percent fruit juice or water. Side dishes such as apple sauce or carrots will be offered instead of french fries.
While french fries and soft drinks will still be available, Disney says Initial tests involving 20,000 kids' meals show that as many as 90 percent of parents and kids chose the more nutritious option.
The new guidelines will be adapted internationally over the next several years. The timetable for implementing these policies is being driven by contractual arrangements, most of which lapse in two years. Earlier this year, Disney and McDonald's Corp. ended a 10-year promotional agreement.
The guidelines are based on The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and have been developed in cooperation with two experts, James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and Keith Thomas Ayoob, an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
In a press release, Ayoob says, "Disney is synonymous with fun and can play an important role in getting kids to consume a more balanced diet."
The limits include sugar, total saturated fats and calories for kid's foods, However, Disney says it will continue to license special-occasion sweets such as birthday cakes and seasonal candy as part of its product range but limit the number of indulgence items in its licensed portfolio to 15 percent by 2010.
"The Disney brand and characters are in a unique position to market food that kids will want and parents will feel good about giving them," says Disney President and CEO Robert Iger, in a written statement.
http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2006/10/16/daily8.html?f=et70&hbx=e_du