Health Check
Encyclopedia
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada is a registered Canadian charity. The foundation's purpose is centered around educating individuals about the prevention and management of heart disease and stroke, and to fund medical research regarding the causes of these conditions...
. The program aims to help Canadians make informed and healthy eating decisions through education, awareness campaigns and the placement of the Health Check logo on the packaging of a food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
product or restaurant menu item that meets specific requirements. The logo is a white check mark over a red circle. There are Health Check-certified products in all categories of Canada's Food Guide.
What are the Criteria?
Products that qualify for a Health Check symbol must meet requirements that are based on the items’:- total fat
- saturated fat
- trans fat
- fibre
- sodium
- sugar
- protein
- vitamins and minerals
More specifically the criteria is based on nutrients Canadians should incorporate into their diet such as fibre and vitamins, and also those they should eat less of such as sodium, fat and sugar. The grocery items are divided into categories related to the Canada’s Food Guide food groups which include: Vegetable and Fruit, Grain Products, Milk and Alternatives, Meat and Alternatives plus Oil and Fat. There is also a category for food that incorporate more than one of these called Combination Foods. The Health Check website has a list of criteria for the products, some examples include:
Vegetable and Fruit
Fruit juices must be:
- made from 100% fruit juice with no added sugar
- an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, folate, or fibre (2 grams)
Frozen and Canned Vegetables, both seasoned and sauced, must have
- no more than 240 milligrams of sodium
- no more than three grams of fat
Grain Products
Breakfast cereals must have:
- no more than three grams of fat
- at least two grams of fibre
- no more than 240 milligrams of sodium
- no more than six grams of sugar
- no more than five percent of total fat from trans fat
Milk and Alternatives
Yogurts must have:
- no more than two percent milk fat
- at least fifteen percent of the daily recommended calcium
- no more than 140 milligrams of sodium
- no added sugar
Meat and Alternatives
Plain meat or poultry must have:
- no more than ten percent fat
- no added salt or sodium
- no more than five percent of fat from trans fat
An independent company randomly evaluates the items, on an annual basis, to ensure that products indeed meet the criteria.
Evolution
A CBCCBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
Marketplace
Marketplace (TV series)
Marketplace is a Canadian television series, broadcast on CBC Television. Launched in 1972, the series is a consumer advocacy newsmagazine, which shows investigative reports on issues such as product testing, health and safety, fraudulent business practices and other news issues of interest to...
report filmed in 2007 was critical of the program, showing some Health Check certified products with sodium and sugar levels that were beyond the recommended levels of other food-rating systems.(See link for details) The program has evolved in the years since this CBC piece aired in January 2008. In 2007 and 2008 significant changes were made to the sodium criteria resulting in reductions of between 25% – 70% in a number of food groups. Categories have been removed in the past few years including cookies, cakes, certain snacks, desserts and French fries.