Tick facts

We’ve all heard about the Heart Foundation Tick, but there are probably a few interesting things you didn’t know about it – read on to learn more.

The Tick…

1. Provides healthier choices for all Australians
The Tick on a food means it has passed independent lab tests to ensure it is a healthier choice compared to similar foods. After all, it wouldn’t make sense to compare the nutrition of cheese with bread, or cooking oil with pasta sauce! Unique criteria appropriate for each type of food are set so that the unhealthier nutrients can be reduced and healthier nutrients increased.

The Tick provides healthier choices for all Australians by challenging food manufacturers to improve the foods we all put on our tables every day.

The Tick makes healthy eating easy and practical, and means we don’t all have to be nutrition experts to make healthier choices. Download a list of Tick products ready for the shops.

People living with chronic disease have special requirements.  They should consult their health professionals for a dietary plan that’s tailor-made to suit their needs.

2. Is earned, never bought
We make food companies work hard to earn the Tick. Every single product (no exceptions) must meet our strict nutritional standards to earn the Tick. Food companies pay a licence fee only once their product has met these standards: it’s just like passing your driving test and paying an administration fee to receive your licence.

As part of a non-profit organisation, the Tick program is completely self-funded, and doesn’t rely on public donations. That means every single cent that the Tick brings in goes straight back into funding activities like:
• Promoting awareness of Tick and its role in healthy eating amongst shoppers and health professionals
• Randomly testing Tick foods to ensure they still meet our tough standards
• Supporting nutrition research
• Reviewing our standards and making them even tougher
• Keeping Tick running

Fees are calculated as a percentage of the predicted sales of Tick products. All Tick licensees are charged fees (per licensee) which range from $5,665 per year to a capped maximum of $186,125 per year in 2011.

3. Meets strict nutritional standards
We make sure that every Tick product contains less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff. So Tick foods have reduced levels of unhealthy saturated fat, trans fat, salt and kilojoules (energy); and more healthy nutrients like fibre, vegetables and calcium. We judge a food as whole, as it’s eaten, and not just according to one nutrient.

We are often asked why sugar is not a Tick criterion. What's interesting is that a seemingly high sugar content doesn't automatically make a food 'bad'.  It’s important to look at the food as a whole, taking into account the other nutrients it contains.
Made up of mostly sugar and/or fat, a high kilojoule chocolate bar or soft drink is rightly considered an unhealthy food because it’s also low in nutrition.  On the flip side a wholegrain breakfast cereal, yoghurt or piece of fresh or dried fruit can also be high in sugar but also very nutritious. To overcome this, we strictly monitor serve size and kilojoules (energy) in Tick products. By limiting kilojoules, the level of sugar in a food is automatically taken into account. Research continues to show that excessive energy intake is the major contributor to being overweight or obese.

The NHMRC (National Health and Medical Research Council) recently reviewed all available evidence to update the Australian dietary guidelines and concluded that sugar as an individual nutrient was only important in relation to dental caries.

There is no scientific consensus that sugar as a nutrient causes heart disease. We
believe that while overall kilojoule intake is important, other factors such as levels of
sodium, fibre and saturated fat and trans fat are more important in preventing
cardiovascular disease.

The advice of the Heart Foundation of Australia is based on sound science. And we will continue to review new scientific evidence as it becomes available.

For more information on sugar visit our Sugar and Carbohydrate section.

4. Can always be trusted
Every food with the Tick is independently tested to make sure it meets our rigorous standards. 

Once a product meets our standards the food company pays a licence fee, and displays the Tick on that product. If the product fails to meet our standards, it cannot use the Tick. However, we will encourage food companies to make changes to the product in order to meet our standards, should they wish to do so.

Foods with the Tick are randomly and frequently tested to make sure they continue to meet the standards. If any Tick food no longer meets our standards, it is expelled from the program.

And not only can you rest assured that what you are eating is healthier, you can also trust the manufacturer’s claims about the product. All of the packaging used for Tick foods must be approved and all advertising claims must be truthful. 

5. Is the key to smart shopping
If you stopped to read the nutrition labels on every item that went into your trolley, grocery shopping would take hours.

The Tick is the smart shopper’s solution to making healthier choices fast. And with over 1,300 different Tick products to choose from, we are confident you can find Tick alternatives to the foods you usually buy.

Tick shopping list: download a list of Tick products ready for the shops