All Junk Food to be banned?

[Phil Harris]

Yesterday's copy of thisislondon (a free evening newspaper in London UK similar to the Evening Standard) carried a front page story to the effect that ALL junk food is to be banned in Disney theme parks - has this story been reported elsewhere?

 

[bicker]

There are many threads about Disney's announcements regarding providing healthier food choices. There has been no indications that they would ban ALL "junk" food. Rather, they're aiming to remove trans-fats from their menu items, and improving the overall healthfulness of the menu items they offer. That's all. Don't worry... you'll still be able to get that funnel cake or ice cream bar.

 

[Phil Harris]

Have dug out my copy of the paper:
[London, UK] Disney announced today it is severing all connections with junk food.
Burger and chips will soon be off the menu at its theme parks worldwide.....

 

[bicker]

Yeah, don't believe it. Someone's pulling your leg.

 

[Scratch42]

Yeah, don't believe it. Someone's pulling your leg.

I think not!

Have you tried FF when they use the Trans Fat Free Oil!

YUK!

 

[Mackey Mouse]

If people want food that is what Disney considers unhealthy and Disney decides that they are only going to serve healthy food, what will happen? We all know that people will go elsewhere to eat and Disney will be left with healthy food that people will not eat. Hey, we all know we should be eating healthy, but when we are on vacation, do we? I try to do the best I can, but occasionally I may fall off and eat something very fattening...

Can you imagine what will happen on their cruises if they do this?? part of cruising is the constant food and not all of it is good for you.

 

[bicker]

That's a good point. Disney is responding to public pressure -- they're probably going to sell more vacations specifically because they're making the changes they're making. However, these changes go just as deep and last just as long as guests are willing to pay for them. Once/If pressure to add back in unhealthy food gets to a certain point, you'll see Disney again do what its guests want, and change things again.

 

[Lewisc]

I think not!

Have you tried FF when they use the Trans Fat Free Oil!

YUK!

Wendy's is trans fat free.

 

[CathrynRose]

Wendy's is trans fat free.

Exactly.

There's a hot dog place where I grew up - anyone in Chicago might know it, "Gene & Jude's" - lovingly referred to by my family as "Rubber Dogs"

Anyways.... they use lard. They dont play around. Straight up, Lard.

Good lord those fries are delightful!

 

[The Sweetness]

I like Wendy's... ESP the chicken strips

 

[tmt martins]

If you read the articals that are out there are two different things going on with Disney and JUNK food.

1st They are severing all tye-ins with the Junk food market .No more Disney characters in your supermarket .

2nd they are offering more healthy choices not cutting out the current menu.

McDee's has been trying for over 20 years and always goes back because people want what they want.

I also don't see them getting rid of the Mickey bars and Dolewhips as healthy as they might be they are still considered junk food.

 

[SauceBoss]

Exactly.

There's a hot dog place where I grew up - anyone in Chicago might know it, "Gene & Jude's" - lovingly referred to by my family as "Rubber Dogs"

Anyways.... they use lard. They dont play around. Straight up, Lard.

Good lord those fries are delightful!

Mmmr lard.... along with butter makes two ingredients that are free of trans-fats!

 

[SamanthaL]

I am laughing at all this now. They can't possibly believe that removing the junk food from the parks and menus will make people happy. Why not just ADD more healthy options. Bring us horsies to the water. If we want to drink it fine and if we want french fries instead so be it!

 

[Allison]

allears has a good article.

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Expands Well-Balanced Meals for Kids


BURBANK, CA, October 17, 2006 – As part of The Walt Disney Company’s new food guidelines to promote healthier kids’ diets, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts today announced that well-balanced meals for children will now become the standard offering at Disney-operated restaurants and kiosks at its U.S. parks. In addition, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts announced a plan to eliminate all added trans fats* and improve the nutritional value and enhance the taste of most of its food offerings for kids and adults by the end of 2007.

The Walt Disney Company’s new food guidelines, which were announced on October 16, are aimed at giving parents and children healthier eating options. The guidelines will govern Disney’s business partnerships and activities in the U.S. on a going-forward basis and will be adapted internationally over the next several years. In addition to the efforts at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney Consumer Products has already begun to offer many licensed products that comply with the guidelines.

Well-Balanced Kids Meals

Designed to encourage better eating habits with more nutritious side dishes and beverages, the revised kids meals have been available since the beginning of October. They include a beverage choice of low fat milk, 100 percent fruit juice or water and a side dish such as unsweetened applesauce, baby carrots or fresh fruit.

“This is a terrific initiative because it makes it easier for parents, even while on vacation, to provide their children with a well-balanced meal with kid appeal,” said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “An overwhelming majority of parents tell us they prefer the more nutritious meals for their children over other options.”

Millions of children’s meals were served last year at Disney’s 180 restaurants and more than 200 food carts and kiosks. More nutritious side dishes and beverages, which have been available within the parks and resorts for the last three years, are now being offered prominently on menus and in signage as the standard children’s meal, rather than as a secondary choice.

Guest research conducted last summer at pilot locations in Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort, where 20,000 revised kids’ meals were served, showed that 77 to 90 percent of the parents, respectively, stayed with fruit or vegetable side options when they were offered first. Recognizing that visits to Disney parks are vacations, parents will still be able to request more indulgent meals and snacks from a wide variety of food offerings.

Out With the Added Trans Fat

As part of a pilot program, The ESPN Zone restaurant, located at Downtown Disney in Anaheim, California, and the ABC Commissary at Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World Resort, removed added trans fat from chicken tenders, French fries and frying oils – and the reviews have been good. Guest research conducted at the Downtown Disney ESPN Zone showed that 71 percent of Guests rated the taste of the fries as “excellent” or “very good.”

“The food & beverage teams at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts want to use our creativity and innovation to partner with parents in making well-balanced meals appealing, accessible, great tasting and fun,” said Mary Niven, vice president, Disneyland Resort Food and Beverage.

Other New Items on the Menu
In addition to removing all added trans fats from foods served in the parks and resorts over the next 12 months, Disney will be constantly looking for ways to improve the nutritional profiles and taste of its most popular entrees, including low fat and vegetarian options.

Other changes include:
* Introducing a new Guest-tested hamburger formulation with fat content not to exceed 20 percent and hamburger buns with 10 percent whole wheat
* Testing new pizza offerings with lower bread and lower-fat cheese content
* Working with manufacturers in reformulating recipes for candy, packaged foods and bakery items sold at the parks or identifying replacement products and
* Ensuring compelling packaging for the more nutritious food offerings as well as portion-controlled snacks and treats.

*According to the Food and Drug Administration, “trans fat is made when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil, a process called hydrogenation. Trans fat can be found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods, and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils. This process increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods that contain these fats. Like saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, trans fat raises the risk of heart disease.”

 

[TheGoofster]

Uhm, hello Disney, anybody home?
All this talk about making the kids meals healthier and being so good for the kids sounds great, BUT, unless the child is ALREADY on a healthy diet (which the majority of kids are definatetly NOT) this new diet will do absolutely nothing to help make kids healthier. It is like putting a bandaid on a severed arm.
As much as we may appreciate Disney's attempt to make kids healthier, all that they are really doing is making the vast majority of parents (the so called polls aside) very upset. Like others have said, when you are on vacation you are not really thinking about eating healthy. (I personally will diet and excerise much more than normal the weeks before, so I can let go a little while in WDW)
Yes, Disney should offer healthier offerings to those who want it, but they shouldn't try to force it on everyone else, simply because it might make a few nutritionists happy.
If my kid wants to eat junk the week while we are at Disney, then why not let me, his parent, decide whether or not he can?

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Other changes include:
* Introducing a new Guest-tested hamburger formulation with fat content not to exceed 20 percent and hamburger buns with 10 percent whole wheat
* Testing new pizza offerings with lower bread and lower-fat cheese content
* Working with manufacturers in reformulating recipes for candy, packaged foods and bakery items sold at the parks or identifying replacement products and
* Ensuring compelling packaging for the more nutritious food offerings as well as portion-controlled snacks and treats.

I'm fine with the changes and "improvments" suggested here, as long as it doesn't affect taste.

That being said, I'd be fine with a less fatty hamburger, and I actually prefer wheat over white bread, so I have no problem there. Usually I hate low-fat cheese since it just doesn't taste, (or melt,) right to me. Reformulating candy? That may be a bit over-the-top. Candy is junk, everbody knows that. If they want to make the healthy food packages all pretty, go for it. I don't care what the package looks like.

Like someone else said, (and this may have been on another similar thread,) I eat healty 300+ days of the year, and when I'm in Disney throw caution to the wind, eat two plus desserts a day, and don't think about calorie or fat content.

So if they want to push fruit and veggies, that's fine, but leave the fries and stuff alone.

 

[pilferk]

Reformulating candy? That may be a bit over-the-top. Candy is junk, everbody knows that. If they want to make the healthy food packages all pretty, go for it. I don't care what the package looks like.

Just as an aside:

The "candy reforumulation" thing is all the rage now. Lots of companies (big and small) are doing it...swapping out the high fructose corn syrup for a more easily digestable sweetener and swapping artificial flavors for real fruit juice. They find it doesn't effect taste, texture or quality and the increase in cost is so negligible that the changes usually pay for themselves with the increased PR and more attractive labeling on the product.

Wasn't there some sort of tax break offered to companies that do this sort of thing, too? I half remember reading that there was, but can't remember where. Maybe it was just a PROPOSED tax break.....can anyone refresh my memory?

 

[Chuck S]

I'm all for the lower fat hamburger. I use super lean ground meat at home, and even 20% fat for a Disney burger seems like a lot. Certainly some menu items can be made healthier without having a detrimental effect on flavor and texture. I like having healthier options...but I also want some "junk" options for when I am in that mood.

 

[SamanthaL]

Those press releases are misleading too. If you showed me that menu and asked me what I thought I would say it's great. I like having a healthy choice for a change, HOWEVER if they had showed me that menu and said that is the ONLY menu ,I would have rejected it. I am not so sure they were clear with the people they surveyed that this is the ONLY kids menu in ALL the TS places. I really think that would have made a difference.

Also they keep talking about healthy sides and drinks. It's more than that. They aren't just saying I can give my kid carrots instead of fries they are revamping an entire menu with few options AND not allowing for substitutions. I think the survey may have been misleading and I really think the press releases are not telling the whole story.

PLEASE, add the healthy choices but let us make the final decision.

 

[thirtycats]

.

Other changes include:
* Introducing a new Guest-tested hamburger formulation with fat content not to exceed 20 percent and hamburger buns with 10 percent whole wheat
* Testing new pizza offerings with lower bread and lower-fat cheese content
* Working with manufacturers in reformulating recipes for candy, packaged foods and bakery items sold at the parks or identifying replacement products and
* Ensuring compelling packaging for the more nutritious food offerings as well as portion-controlled snacks and treats.

* .”

These sound good to me!