Disney ditching junk food deals

NEW YORK -- Buzz Lightyear and Lightning McQueen will not be endorsing junk food much longer.

Walt Disney, addressing growing concern about child nutrition, said it would curtail the use of its name and characters with food items that does not meet new nutritional standards. The new guidelines would limit how much sugar, calories and fat could be in snacks and foods marketed by companies that Disney has licensing relationships with.

In addition to the licensing restrictions, Disney said its theme park restaurants would change the default options for side orders from French fries to a more healthful choice, like carrots or applesauce.

The move, which comes at a time of mounting worry about childhood obesity, is likely to put pressure on the company's competitors to follow suit.

The policy change was broadly hailed by food industry experts, who saw it as an important statement in the increasingly vocal debate over what parents want their children to eat and what the food companies are trying to sell to them.

"I think this is very significant," said Margo G. Wootan, the nutrition policy director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "Disney characters will not show up on Pop-Tarts, waffles and fruit snacks. This will allow parents to feed their children more healthfully."