The check mark. We use it to reference things done, take attendance and show something is correct. In short, the check mark means validation, a resounding “Yes!” So what does a check mark mean for your heart?
The American Heart Association (AHA) created the Heart-Check Food Certification Program to help you identify heart-healthy foods at a glance. Achieving this designation means a particular food meets AHA heart-healthy guidelines as part of an overall healthy diet and can use the mark on its packaging.
But it's more than just a symbol on a box. The Heart-Check mark is your first indication of what's inside and an invitation to make a heart-healthy choice. And it's not a certification that's easily acquired.
For starters, the AHA is serious about heart health because it's a vital component to our quality of life and longevity. The organization's mission is to build healthier lives free of cardiovascular disease and stroke. To support this, it has a goal to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20% by the year 20201 and believes healthy eating and regular physical activity are key to the mission's success.
The AHA Heart-Check program provides designations on products to make eating a heart-healthy diet easier. The program assures consumers that products meet consistent science-based nutritional standards. Each product has requirements for nutrition to limit, such as saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and sodium, and nutrients to encourage, such as fiber.
Only then does a food become certified to display the AHA Heart-Check mark:
What does this mean to you when choosing a heart-healthy food? If you are considering buying a breakfast cereal, you can compare all of the ingredients and nutritional values and try to determine which one, if any, is better. Or you can simply find the Heart-Check certification mark on the box and rest assured that what goes into your bowl has been verified by a trusted source to meet nutritional guidelines.
So that little check mark contains a lot of important information.