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Many bread brands have dropped out of the Heart Foundation's food-endorsement "Tick" programme because of difficulties complying with a new, lower level of salt.
The foundation refused to name the breads, but Tip Top said it had withdrawn its sunflower and poppyseed bread and three other Holsom's loaves.
Foundation Tick programme manager Ian Mathieson said another big manu-facturer had removed its lines fromthe wholemeal bread category, leavingthe Signature range of four productsand two from smaller baker Yarrows,plus some pita breads.
No white breads now carry the tick - there had been several - because of an increase in the amount of fibre required.
The foundation is trying to reduce the level of salt in bread to cut the rate of heart disease and stroke. Sodium, the unhealthy part of salt, is linked to high blood pressure.
Salt is used to improve bread's taste and "strength". A quarter of the sodium in New Zealanders' diets comes from bread.
Mr Mathieson said the sodium level to qualify for the tick on bread bags was now 400mg per 100g of bread. It had been cut progressively from 450mg two years ago.
Tip Top Bread, owned by George Western Foods, said it and other bakers were working to reduce sodium to 450mg per 100g. "Four hundred is very low in a loaf," said marketing chief Bristan Lynch.
