The Heart Foundation Tick – Australia’s leading food approval program
Established in 1989, the Tick is the Heart Foundation’s guide to help people make healthier food choices quickly and easily. The goal of the Tick is to improve the nutritional content of foods by challenging food companies to meet the Heart Foundation’s strict nutrition and labelling standards.
How does the Tick work on retail products?
To earn the Tick, food manufacturers have to meet tough nutrition standards and follow strict promotional guidelines. There are over 50 different categories. Depending on the product category, the nutrition standard sets criteria for things that are relevant to that category. These can include saturated fat, trans fat, kilojoules, salt, fibre, and calcium.
Promotional guidelines cover things like nutrition information panels, correct use of the Tick trade mark, and compliance with current food regulations and codes of practice. The Heart Foundation checks all packaging and promotional materials such as advertising and media releases, before they can be used.
The Heart Foundation ensures that these tough standards are maintained by subjecting products to random audits.
What are the steps in the application process?
1. Contact us and let us know the type of products you’re interested in gaining Tick approval for, along with all your contact details.
2. Tick will send you:
- the nutrition criteria relevant to your products
- contractual information and application forms, and
- marketing guidelines for the use of Tick.
3. Send the products to a NATA accredited laboratory for analysis.
- Samples from three separate batches should be sent - the lab will provide an analysis report based on the composite of all three.
- If the product is in development stage and it is not possible to test across three batches, then kitchen or trial production samples are acceptable. We will then require a new analysis from actual production samples be carried out once the product is fully up and running.
4. Send the lab results to Tick, accompanied by a completed application form. If the analysis passes we will provide in-principle approval for Tick on your product.
5. Tick will send you:
- the contract and associated documentation, and
- instructions on how to access the Tick logo.
6. Submit packaging and promotional material. In addition to meeting nutritional requirements, all materials that feature the Tick must be approved prior to use. We review things such as:
- correct use of the Tick logo
- nutrition information panels
- compliance with the Food Standards Code, and
- compliance with the Code of Practice on Nutrient Claims (CoPoNC).
7. Random audits. All products that are approved to carry the Tick are subject to random audits to ensure ongoing compliance with Tick’s strict standards.