Heart Association Reminds Dietitians Food Certification ProgramStill Pumping

Heart Association Reminds Dietitians Food Certification Program Still Pumping

DALLAS--The American Heart Association (AHA) (www.americanheart.org) introduced its Food Certification Program eight years ago, which certifies a given food product to be heart-health conscious. "We would like to get the word out to dietitians that aren't familiar with the program" that foods certified in the program are a healthy choice for patients, said Michelle Curtis of AHA. Products certified by AHA may display a red heart with white check mark logo on the product package, providing a reliable tool for finding foods low in cholesterol and saturated fat.

In order to qualify for certification, products must meet certain criteria per serving: 3 g or less of fat, 1 g or less of saturated fat, 20 mg or less of cholesterol and 480 mg or less of sodium. Also, the food must contain at least 10 percent of the Daily Value of one or more of these nutrients: protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron or dietary fiber. All meats must meet the USDA standard for extra lean to earn AHA certification. "The American Heart Association's heart-check mark is one way that patients can quickly and reliably find foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol easily on the shelf," said Rebecca Mullis, R.D., Ph.D. "Dietitians can confidently suggest their patients look for the heart-check mark when shopping."

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines