Chain Leader

David Farkas

Trimming the Fat
October 18, 2006

Walt Disney on Monday announced food guidelines, to roll out globally in the next few years, that limit calories, fat, saturated fat and sugar in kid-oriented food and drink under Disney licenses, as well as in kids meals sold at its theme parks. Trans fats will be gone from the parks' food by the end of 2007 and from licensed products by the end of 2008. — USA Today , Oct. 17

Whoa! Is powerful Disney, which runs one of the world’s biggest foodservice operations, really that concerned about children’s health? Or is the entertainment conglomerate heading off legislators and federal bureaucrats, who have blamed companies like Disney for marketing trans-fat-filled foods to kids?

A press release quotes Disney President and CEO Robert Iger as saying. “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.” Nevermind it apparently took until 2006 for Disney officials to decide to take nutrition seriously.

Who cares, really? Kids (and their parents) will have the chance to eat healthful meals at the worldwide parks, which attract millions annually. That can’t be a bad thing, as even foodservice’s harshest critics have acknowledged.

As large and influential as it is, Disney is merely hopping on a bandwagon. Wendy’s is now frying french fries and chicken in nonhydrogenated cooking oil, which is free of trans fats. Dunkin’ Donuts has eliminated trans fats from all but its doughnuts. On the day of Disney’s announcement, a 10-unit T.G.I. Friday’s franchisee in northeast Ohio said it had already “voluntarily eliminated trans-fat oils from its cooking of fried foods to provide consumers with better health-conscious options.”

In New York City this fall, in a widely reported action, the Board of Health voted unanimously to ban trans fats from menus.

Yet despite mounting evidence that trans fats lead to serious health problems, here comes Trans-fatfacts.com, an arm of The Center for Consumer Freedom, declaring that “Trans fats have been a part of the American diet since the early 1900s, and they are hardly toxic.”

It seems odd to find support for something medical science has deemed unhealthy. Until you learn The Center for Consumer Freedom isn’t supported by freedom-loving consumers; its backers are food manufacturers and restaurant companies, for whom change is expensive.

Yet even proponents have a hard time making a case for trans fats. “Like saturated fats, trans fats raise levels of LDL cholesterol—the so-called ‘bad’ cholesterol,” says Trans-fatfacts.com. “Some research indicates that they may also decrease levels of HDL—the so-called ‘good’ cholesterol. And while trans fats have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, scientists still debate whether trans fats actually cause heart disease or other health problems.”

For now, it doesn’t seem like the industry’s biggest players are waiting for a resolution.

Posted by David Farkas on October 18, 2006 | Comments (0)