In this episode of Synergy Loves Company, host Eric delves into Disney's efforts to promote healthier eating with the Mickey Check, now known as the Disney Check. We explore the program's origins in 2005 when the FDA revised dietary guidelines and childhood obesity was declared an epidemic. Eric discusses how Disney introduced nutritional guidelines informed by the FDA, starting with kids' meals in theme parks and extending to licensed grocery store products. The conversation covers Disney's collaboration with First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move program, the Magic of Healthy Living initiative, and the expansion of the program to include Star Wars and Marvel characters. Eric examines the criteria for receiving the Disney Check, the impact of the initiative on Disney's broader health programs, and innovations like the plant-based Mickey Check. Tune in as Eric shares insights into Disney's commitment to connecting with their audience through healthier choices.
Thanks for Enjoying Synergy Loves Company! https://www.synergylovescompany.com
Donate to the show: https://ko-fi.com/synergylovescompany
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@synergylovescompany Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/erichsynergy.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/synergylovescompany Instagram and Threads:https://www.instagram.com/synergylovescompany/
More about Disney Check here: https://citizenship.disney.com/healthy-living Disney Impact: https://impact.disney.com/
00:03 --> 20:11 Synergy loves company. We have this coterie of rich franchises, the company now that people want to engage with. I came here to try and continue what Walt Disney and his associates set in motion 50 years ago, which is to experiment with every new and innovative kind of entertainment possible. It's what they hope to do here, to really develop something that just more than an entertainment enterprise, it's something that contributes many other ways. Picture this. You're walking through the Magic Kingdom and your stomach starts growling. You're surrounded by tempting treats everywhere you look. But you've got a New Year's resolution to stick to healthier choices. You pass right by the turkey legs in Frontierland. You skip those loaded tots at the Friar's Nook, and you almost give in to that delicious Cheshire Cat's tale in Fantasyland. But you're on your way to visit your old pal Sunny Eclipse. You scan that menu board at Cosmic Rays and find sliced roasted turkey breast and cheddar on honey wheat bread with apple chips and grape tomatoes served with your choice of small, low fat milk or a small Dasani water bottle. It's a breath of fresh air compared to all of the sugar, fried foods and theme park burgers that you have been trying to avoid. Okay, okay. It's a kid's meal. I won't tell you you didn't order a kid's meal because that's what that is. But I still get a McDonald's Happy Meal when the toy is cool. Especially if it's a Disney one. And so, as you decide to order that turkey sandwich kids pack, you notice a small symbol in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head and a green check mark. That's the Disney check or the Mickey check. And it's Disney's clever way of helping kids and families make better food choices when at the parks. But us grown ups can get a little out of it, too. Hey, this is Synergy Loves Company, where we explore how Disney connects to everything. I'm Eric, and we're going to eat healthier with Disney today when we check out the history of Disney's nutritional guidelines for kids. The Disney check. Let's rewind 20 years ago to 2005. The FDA had just revised their dietary guidelines for Americans, and the United States had declared childhood obesity an epidemic. The National Institute of Health published a report claiming that 25% of kids in the US were overweight and 11% were considered obese. But the report also included some ways we could help children prevent obesity. Some of their recommendations included more physical activity like Walking around theme parks. Even another was limiting television watching to give kids more opportunities to be physically active. Sorry, Sweet life with Zack and Cody. And putting special symbols on healthy snack options for kids to show them that these are the best ones to choose. There was a successful program from the National Heart foundation in Australia and New Zealand called Pick the Tick that helped kids down under make better choices. 2005 was also the year that Bob Iger took over the helm of the Walt Disney Company. Health is important to Bob. Just recently, Iger talked about his healthy eating and exercise regimen on the In Good Company podcast and said that he thought it made him a better leader. Bob Iger likes healthy choices and he definitely could agree a lot with the National Institute of Health's report on childhood health. But he probably didn't like that idea for less tv. He had come to the Walt Disney Company from ABC Television. TV was his bread and butter. But Disney did set up some guidelines about food that they would offer and serve to kids in the theme parks around this time. They also set guidelines for how Disney characters would be used for advertising food on tv. It had to be healthy options. And they also set up strict requirements for what kinds of food could be advertised to children on Disney owned TV stations. If kids were going to be encouraged to turn off the TV and tune into healthier snacks, maybe Disney could have a presence on those healthy snacks. Disney could be the ones to put special symbols on healthy snack options. Healthy snacks featuring Disney characters marked with an iconic three circle mouse logo. So later on in 2012, Disney made good on this idea and they introduced the Mickey Check. The little yellow Mickey head logo with a green check mark was accompanied by Disney's own dietary guidelines informed by the FDA guidelines. And they started popping up on kids menu boards all over the Disney parks. A theme park Mickey Check Kids meal is probably where the super duper Disney fan like you or me probably first saw this little logo. But not all kids meals are created equal. In order for a meal at the parks to achieve the Mickey Check badge of honor, they need to follow some guidelines. A meal vying for the Mickey Check must include at least three of these food. Fruits and vegetables, low fat dairy, whole grains or lean protein. Think back to that Turkey Kids pack. We got it. Cosmic rays, Turkey breast. There's our lean protein, whole grain honey, wheat bread, apple chips and grape tomatoes. Give us that fruits and veggies thing. And to round it all out, we got a slice of cheddar cheese and we could have opted in for that low fat milk to get the dairy requirement. That's like four out of four. There we go. Mickey Check. When families see this logo, they know that there is a balanced option for kids. And kids can be enticed to order these options because you know, they gotta have that super cool Mickey Check. But Mickey Checks are not just for theme parks and kids meals. Micky Check might be in your home right now. Back in 2005, when the National Health Institute shared their obesity prevention recommendations, in addition to saying that kids should be watching less TV to opt instead for more physical activity, they also mentioned that when kids do watch tv, they should not have popular cartoon characters marketing unhealthy snacks to them. You know, like, let's not put Mickey Mouse on a box of sugar blasted cereal. Now with more sugar crusted marshmallows. It's just not socially responsible for the Walt Disney Company. So Disney set their own standards of how characters could and couldn't promote different food choices on tv, in commercials and even during children's programming. So Disney extended the Mickey Check to food products that they license their characters to on your local grocery store shelf. Goldfish crackers with Mickey or Princesses Baby Bell cheese with Disney characters on the wrapper. Or breakfast cereals with the latest Disney movie tie in promotion. All of these need to check all of the criteria to get the Mickey check. The criteria is a little different depending on the category, but the program does have its requirements. It has requirements for meat products like nuggets and meatballs, hot dogs and sausages, deli slices and raw or pre cooked meats. It has dairy requirements for cheese, for yogurt products and for milk as well as soups and sauces, fruit juice, bread, breakfast cereal snacks, you name it, you gotta meet the requirements to get the check. Lets take a look at the chart real quick. For breakfast cereal requirements, it needs to be a serving size of 28 grams or less and the serving size cannot exceed 130 calories. It needs to be less than 1.1 gram of saturated fat per 100 calories, 0 grams of added trans fat, less than 10 grams of sugar and less than 200 grams of sodium. I just happen to have a couple of serials from back in the Disney 100 era. I actually talked about both of these on my episode about Post and Disney. So let's take a look. We'll find the Mickey check on these boxes. Here we go. I've got the silver Disney 100 multiple characters, one with the red and blue Mickey shaped heads. And I've got the post Mickey Mouse Club Confetti cake cereal right here. If we turn them around right over here, I've got on the back of the silver one, there's our Mickey Check. And over here on the back of this one, I also have the Mickey Check right there. So there we go. We've got some cereals with Mickey Check. But this was interesting. I found this box in our pantry of Mickey and Friends fruit snacks. Not real fruit, more like candy fruit snacks. It does not have the distinction of a Mickey Check. There's not a Mickey Check anywhere on this box that I can find. So that's pretty interesting. Hmm. And that goes to show that there are Disney licensed food products out there that don't get the check. But wouldn't you want to have your product to have that badge of honor of the Mickey Check? Also, if you're trying to eat healthier, wouldn't you rather choose a product with the Mickey check on it? All right, let's talk about some other products that do get the Mickey Check. I mentioned it earlier, but let's give a shout out to Babybel Cheese. They have done a ton of crossover promotions with Disney Disney characters on the Babybel packaging and a Mickey Check on the nutrition label. But that's not all. One cool thing about Babybel Cheese is you can sit on a giant wheel of Babybel cheese at Woody's Lunchbox in Toy Story Land at Disney's Hollywood Studios. And have you ever seen Disney themed fruit? I've seen this a couple of times in the past and it's kind of weird when you see it at the store. And I've also seen some pictures on it. I'll share some online. It's basically like, here's grapes, but there's Yoda on the label. So like the grapes are still just grapes. Is that even really Disney themed fruit or just like a Disney picture on the label? There is one Disney themed fruit based snack that my kids absolutely loved and they're called Foodles. Have you seen these? They're like little fresh fruit and cheese lunchable, like packs, but it's in the shape of Mickey. And the Foodles thing is like Toodles from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Oh, Foodles. You know, like call Toodles in. But it's. It's Foodles. I. I kind of love that. But my favorite Mickey Check item of all time has got to be those Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers. Like the ones that have the little red Mickey's mixed in with them. And those, they too have that little Mickey Check icon right there on them. But hey, if you've tried any Mickey Check approved items from your grocery store, drop a comment below. I'd love to hear about what your favorites are. So Disney's guidelines have been around since 2006, but they have evolved over the years and changed a little bit. In 2010, Disney gave a name to their children's health initiative. They called it Disney Magic of Healthy Living. They launched the new title along with First Lady Michelle Obama and her let's Move program to get Americans more active. The collaboration between Disney and First Lady Michelle Obama gave us a whole Disney Channel ad campaign full of Disney Magic of Healthy Living PSAs featuring the first lady and some Disney Channel stars. And then again in 2012, when Disney was launching the Mickey Check, they got some help from First Lady Michelle Obama, who was launching her MyPlate initiative to get Americans to make more conscious food decisions. At the Same time, in 2017, Disney updated the name from the Mickey Check, like I've been calling it this whole time, to the Disney Check, probably to be more inclusive to princesses and new movies and other characters. It's still Mickey shaped and I still like to call it the Mickey Check. So I'm probably still going to call it Mickey Check, not Disney Check for the rest of this video. But officially it is called the Disney Check. That same year when they changed it to the Disney Check, they expanded the program to include a Star wars check and a Marvel check. They're basically the same thing, but for licensed food products including Marvel and Star wars characters. But they are really just boring circle logos. This is totally a missed opportunity if you ask me. The Mickey Check. So the Mickey check is a Mickey silhouette. It's not just a circle. So why can't we just make the Star wars check be like a little BB8? He's mostly a circle. Just put the little astromech head on top of the circle and like why can't the Marvel Check be a Captain America shield with a check on it? I mean that really just is a circle. And then they would have a little bit more flair. And it's not just like here's a circle with a check mark on it. Just add a little detail to it. Come on guys. In 2023, Disney also introduced a plant based Mickey Check to show off healthy plant based meal and snack options at the Disney parks. And all along the way, Disney has been keeping information about the Disney Check and its health initiatives on a website. You can see it at citizenship.disney.com healthyliving it has all the info about what foods qualify for the Check in the parks and in the grocery store. The website also has articles about how families can eat healthy, recipes for meals and snacks that qualify for Mickey Check and you can make in your own home, and links to some of Those videos and PSAs that aired on the Disney Channel to promote a healthy lifestyle. Disney's healthy eating initiatives are not just in the United States. In 2016, Disney launched Healthily Ever after in the UK. It's a similar program that partnered with the Departments of Health in England and Ireland. There's no Disney Check there, but it uses popular Disney characters to help guide smart food choices and more physical activity. After spending so much time researching and experiencing the Mickey Check program, I can tell you it's more than just a symbol, it's a little revolutionary. Disney was one of the first big companies to actually make their own food guidelines for themselves and stick to them. And it helps us to think about how we think about theme park food and family nutrition. But what excites me the most, seeing how Disney continues to innovate and how they navigate the world of their consumers. They're constantly introducing new social initiatives in addition to the Disney Check and health programs that they have. Disney has created Disney Impact, a collection of programs that look into the health of of the Disney company itself. But instead of nutrition, it focuses on things like ethical supply chain, environmental impact, diversity and inclusion, and all the things that would make a company more sustainable in the future. So the next time you're at a Disney park or even just doing your weekly grocery shopping, keep an eye out for that little Mickey Check symbol. It's like having a little bit of Disney magic, helping you and me make some healthier choices. Thanks for joining me for this first episode of the new year. I took a little break there for a while. We had the holidays and my son Ben and I built a new computer so I could make some great content for you and so he could play some games. I'm glad you came back to join me on this journey through the Mickey Check. And as always, I do have some more great Disney connections coming up right up the pipeline for you. And if you want to make sure you don't miss those, go ahead and subscribe or follow wherever you're enjoying. Synergy Loves Company right Now, whether it's YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Go to synergylovescompany.com and you'll find a link to all of them. Click Follow or Subscribe and then you'll know when a new episode drops. And if you've Been listening to Synergy Love's company for a while. Let's take this to the next level. I would love to connect with you, so why don't you reach out and follow me on Facebook, Instagram threads, all those places? I'm at Synergy LovesCompany, but you can also find me on Blue sky, which is probably my favorite of all of the social media. So find me on bluesky. I'm at erichsynergy. Don't stop there though. Could you share this show with a friend of yours who would enjoy Synergy Loves Company? That's the best way to support the show. Tell them about this episode or maybe another one that was your favorite. Send them a link on your favorite social media and then you could tag me in it so I can say hi to you. Or just tell them to visit synergylovescompany.com and remember, this show is listener supported. There's no sponsors. It's just you and me. If you feel like you get something out of this podcast and you want to support me to help me make more great Disney connections, you can do that by supporting the show on Ko Fi. You can buy me a cup of coffee, keep me caffeinated enough to have enough energy to make another episode. I thank you in advance. No matter how you decide to support the show, I really do appreciate you and the time you just spent with me today. Without you, I'd just be talking to myself. And that's not nearly as much fun as it is talking to you. So thanks for for all of that and thanks for joining me on this adventure through Disney's efforts to keep kids healthy with the Mickey check. Remember, Disney magic isn't just in the parks. It's all around us. Even at your local grocery store. So until next time, keep discovering the magic in it.