Giving food the big tick

Choosing healthy food at the supermarket can be very confusing. The wealth of choice, particularly of processed foods, and the myriad of food labels and manufacturers' claims can make it a daunting task for all but the really committed.

The Heart Foundation's Pick the Tick food labelling programme has been designed to take the heartache out of choosing healthy food within food categories by identifying products which are low in fat, salt and sugar and high in fibre, with a simple but effective tick logo.

By looking for the distinctive red tick, shoppers can choose products confident in the knowledge that they have been independently tested, meet the foundation's nutritional criteria and are healthy choices as part of a balanced diet.

The labelling programme also provides an opportunity for the foundation to work alongside industry in developing new products or reformulating existing ones to meet specific criteria relating to fat and salt. Food companies benefit with a highly visible and credible means of positioning their products to take advantage of the nutrition awareness of consumers.

The development of nutritional criteria for the Pick the Tick programme is based on a public health philosophy.

This aims to easily identify healthy foods for the whole population, rather than for people on cholesterol-lowering or other therapeutic diets - although Pick the Tick products are still a healthy choice for this group.

Products submitted by food companies for approval are analysed by an independent laboratory and then assessed against the nutritional criteria by a Heart Foundation dietitian. The foundation also undertakes random testing. Products outside the guidelines are not included in the programme.

Companies with products which meet the guidelines are invited to enter a 12-month licensing agreement and pay a fee based on the projected turnover of the product. This entitles the company to use the tick logo on the approved products only. The money raised through the programme is used to promote its benefits and to educate consumers. Funds are also set aside for important nutrition research and education.

Pick the Tick nutrition criteria provide food manufacturers with clear benchmarks on which they can base food formulation. Many have developed lines specifically to meet the criteria or have worked with the foundation or independent dietitians to modify existing products. This has resulted in significant changes to product formulation.

Heart Foundation food industry setting manager Leanne Young says a survey shows that grocery buyers are not only aware of the tick, they look for it when they are out shopping and know what it means.

Sometimes, she says, there is confusion about why some products, such as certain brands of margarine or pizza, have been accepted into the programme.

"Margarines with the tick have to meet specific criteria relating to salt and the type of fatty acids they contain. We are trying to reduce the amount of saturated fat in these products as well as the trans-fatty acids which have now been shown to behave like saturated fat. Similarly oils have to be low in saturated fat."