Pick the Tick takes out salt

New Zealand food companies have reduced the use of salt in bread, breakfast cereal and margarine by 33 tonnes in a year.

Research by Leanne Young and Boyd Swinburn for the Heart Foundation showed the impact of the Pick the Tick programme on the salt content of everyday foods and its influence on food companies, the foundation said yesterday.

The largest reduction was in breakfast cereals, of an average 61 per cent. In bread it was reduced by an average of 26 per cent and in margarine by 11 per cent.

Eighty companies and 750 products have "tick" status.

"The findings clearly show the impact the Pick the Tick programme has had on the food industry and the benefits this has had for consumers," Ms Young said.



It had been estimated that reducing the average daily salt intake by half would reduce the incidence of stroke by 25 per cent and of heart disease by 15 per cent.

The findings were published in this month's edition of British health promotion journal Health Promotion International.

The Pick the Tick programme was established to make it easier for consumers to choose healthier foods. Although it appealed to the food industry as a valuable vehicle for advertising and marketing, attaining the tick logo provided an incentive for manufacturers to improve food's nutritional value.

"Pick the Tick provides the framework for food reformulation, and our research shows that nearly 50 per cent of tick licensees have either reformulated or formulated their products to meet the strict nutritional criteria of the programme," Ms Young said.

Recent research showed 59 per cent of shoppers used the tick when choosing foods and 81 per cent trusted the tick to make healthier food choices.

- NZPA

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