Twenty-five years after being launched to help consumers make healthier food choices, the Heart Foundation's Tick will be phased out next year.

Tick Programme manager Deb Sue says the Heart Foundation is retiring the Tick programme due to changes occurring across the nutrition landscape in New Zealand.

'While the Tick is moving off the shelves, the Heart Foundation will continue to own the trademark and be a trusted voice in the food space through our existing activities,” says Deb.

'The food and nutrition landscape is complex and our nutrition voice will continue to play a key role in guiding consumers through the maze of confusion, and towards making good choices for them and their families.

'Behind the scenes, we'll continue to work with companies to reduce sugar and sodium in a number of food categories.

'We're also continuing to help Kiwis to create nutritious meals using whole and less processed ingredients, and to make healthier choices through our recipes and visual food guide.”

Deb says when launched back in 1991 the tick served as an important catalyst for change. It focused people's attention on the foods they bought, by identifying products that were healthier choices in their respective product category.

"Additionally, food manufacturers reformulated 41 products across five food categories to meet the tick criteria. This led to the removal of 156 tonnes of saturated fat, 15.4 tonnes of trans-fat, from foods consumers purchased in NZ.

'Separate research also showed Tick resulted in 33 tonnes of salt being removed from three food categories in one year.”

Deb says the food industry is increasingly adopting the Trans-Tasman Government Health Star Rating System, now on more than 2000 products.