Sadly, a very biased report. Saying that people are going to think french fries with a symbol are better for them than broccoli is an insult. While a company may "pay" to get the Health Check symbol on their products, their products still have to meet certain criteria to get that symbol. (A point which seemed to be missed in your report). Posted by: L.B. | Jan 23, 08 07:10 PM

Heart Check confirmed my suspicions about this system. I saw the Heart Check, I read the labels and in time skipped Heart Check. Wouldn't it feel good to be able to trust The Heart and Stroke Foundation? It follows along the lines of all the other problems corporations have put on the little guy in favor of their bottom line. Funny, trust is hard to find in business and is becoming more and more rare. Posted by: Brenda H. | Jan 23, 08 07:15 PM

I am 84 and have Congestive Heart Failure. I am restricted to 2000mg sodium from all sources per day. ( My family Dr. tells me that this problem is endemic amongst his patients. Posted by: John F. Entwistle | Jan 23, 08 07:33 PM

I thought this was a very informative report, and that Ms. Mesley stood up to the Heart and Stroke lobby well. When it comes to nutrition, perhaps the old adage applies: Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you read. But seriously, the nutrition facts are paramount, but with one caveat. One must read the serving size before checking the percentages and daily requirements. For example, Ms. Mesley was comparing a small can of soup with a larger can without checking the serving size.This is misleading, because the smaller can might have a larger serving size or vice versa. Posted by: Rod McDonald | Jan 23, 08 08:03 PM

It's time for people to realize their health is suffering because of convenience foods! Time to go back to basics. What's so hard about making your own mac and cheese? Posted by: Jen Bucholtz | Jan 23, 08 08:09 PM

The problem with making a home cooked meal every night is a full time job, kids, skating lessons, dance class.... I did trust that the health check symbol was helping me make healthy choices but your report helped me see otherwise! I think the ONQI system is a perfect solution and am hopeful that this idea will catch on. Posted by: Kristal K | Jan 23, 08 09:05 PM

The solution to this problem is far from rocket science. Actually, it is closer to distilled water in complexity. When there is a dollar to be made, regardless of the "PERCEIVED" integrity of the organization ... morals make the same trip as that great "flushing" sound that is heard daily in our homes. Just as with another organization uttering similar claims (the BBB, and I speak from experience), when money is exchanged for some sort of rating ... a relationship develops that is very similar to a customer and drug dealer. Posted by: Wayne Gemmell | Jan 23, 08 09:21 PM

This story is a sign of the time. Money talks and we see it clearly here. The at risk populations are most likely to reply on a quick check mark and grab the item.There is a huge population that relies on quick fixes such as the 'Health Check symbol' If I ate following the Health Check system I would either drop dead from adult onset diabetes (which they ignore) or my blood pressure would blow my heart out of my chest! The Heart and Stroke foundation should be ashamed of themselves. My donations just ended to heart and Stroke and will revert to the Children's Hospital! Posted by: Tracey W. | Jan 23, 08 10:33 PM

Thank you Marketplace for your informative program on the 'healthcheck' program. As I suspected, the program is essentially a fraud. I am sure that was/is not the intention of the Heart & Stroke Foundation in setting this up, but it does perpetrate a fraud on the buying public. Buyers look for 'seals of approval' from reputable organizations. And, we come to trust them. In this case, the whole Health Check labeling program was flawed from the outset. Frankly, the leadership of the Heart and Stroke Foundation should have seen this. Perhaps 'growing' the organization in importance and stature was more important to them. What a shame! They have done a disservice to what should be an important organization in our community. Posted by: RL | Jan 23, 08 10:37 PM

This was very good. I will not trust Heart and Stroke anymore. Since they couldn't get any money door-to-door, they get it from the big money making corporations. What a rip-off! Posted by: Michelle V | Jan 24, 08 12:26 AM

To L.B.(first poster) The point that "products have to meet certain criteria" to get the Health Check symbol was not missed at all in the report. The problem lies in the weakness of those criteria. The report did not strike me as "very biased", and even if it had, I applaud Marketplace for bringing the issue to the public's attention. Posted by: Katherine Maki | Jan 24, 08 01:12 AM

The U.S. ONQI seems a much more legitimate way of assessing healthy foods. I seldom buy packaged products but will be paying close attention to contents after your program. Posted by: arlene rogers | Jan 24, 08 08:28 AM

I take issue with L.B. who writes that your report is "biased" and that a company's products "still have to meet certain criteria to get that [Health Check] symbol". It was perfectly clear to me in your piece that certain criteria had to be met for Health Check approval. I don't think it's a stretch for any CBC viewer to realize that the criteria need to adjusted! Hopefully the H and S Foundation will be embarrassed into making some drastic changes in the way foods get rated. Posted by: Mike Hussey | Jan 24, 08 08:58 AM

This well-researched report was more than just an eye-opener, it also offered an insight to other "rating" solutions. Who will have the courage to promote a Canadian version of ONQI? After the Heart and Stroke Foundation dropped the ball so very badly, I can't wait to see Health Canada's response to the issues. Posted by: John R | Jan 24, 08 01:05 PM

While I found the report interesting and informative, i found Wendy's interviewing style (with Bretta Maloff of Heart and Stroke) difficult to watch. She seemed to continually interrupt Miss Maloff. I had the impression Wendy's mind was made up re the Health Check program before the interview even started. The role of a good interviewer is to allow the interviewee to speak and to allow the viewer to be able to listen and form an opinion. Posted by: sp | Jan 24, 08 04:28 PM

Once again us consumers are being manipulated & mislead. I am one of those patrons who usually look at the labeling of facts on the product, but assumed that if the Heart & Stroke check was also on the product, that meant it had been thoroughly checked to meet consumer standards of good healthy food, which would be considered the best of the bunch being sold, so of course I was swayed to purchase the ones with the heart check logo. I'm fuming mad! It's just another grab for money & who cares about the health of us Canadians! Plus, the spokeswoman for the Heart & Health Assoc. showed poor judgement to suggest that Canadians are morons when it comes to eating healthy food, so if they steer us towards a little bit better foods than bad ones, then that is better than nothing! I was utterly insulted by her remarks. Posted by: Melanie | Jan 24, 08 07:56 PM

Thank you to Market Place for showing the truth about the so-called health check placed on foods in the grocery aisles. How despicable of the Heart & Stroke foundation to sell their logo to companies for profit even when the foods in question are high in sodium, sugar, or fat. The Heart & Stroke foundation will receive no donation next time they come to my door...This story fits in well with a book I am currently reading by Kevin Trudeau: NATURAL CURES "THEY" DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT. This book is reveals how it's all about the money when it comes to health care and the pushing of drugs. Posted by: Linda Stewart | Jan 24, 08 08:36 PM

I was wondering what took so long for Marketplace to do a story on this scam. When the Heart-Check symbol first came out it carried with it specific fine print: Participants have paid to support the Heart & Stroke Foundation. Showing the symbol DOES NOT endorse the contents IN ANY WAY. Now they're pushing to be a gold standard. For me...if it has a heart-check symbol it means its probably bad for my heart and likely to cause a stroke. There's less sugar in an Oh-Henry chocolate bar than in the average granola bar...I avoid all heart-check products whenever possible. Posted by: Steve Scherr | Jan 24, 08 09:17 PM

I have always questioned the health check mark. The foods they support have always been questionable. My concern is what was said about the heart and stroke foundation getting theirs claws into the government pockets. If there is a petition then I want to sign it. Posted by: sherry shew | Jan 24, 08 09:45 PM

Very informative show. I thought that when I saw the health check symbol on food products that it was sort of coming from the "Food Police". My mistake in not realizing that everybody is out for that multi-million dollar paycheck each year including the Heart and Stroke foundation even if it means lowering the standards and giving a product the health check symbol in exchange for payment. Posted by: Susan E. | Jan 24, 08 11:16 PM

I have been checking labels for awhile, as I would like to eat healthier. I have noticed the high content of sugars & sodium in many products. This just confirms it. So I would like to know are the others, like Superstore blue labels, just as bogus? It sounds like the U.S. is on the right track. Posted by: Sandra D | Jan 25, 08 01:17 PM

What is there to prevent companies, Canadian or those companies' products we import, from copying the healthy heart label without approval? Posted by: Dell Jordan | Jan 26, 08 04:03 PM

I think it's clear that the Heart and Stroke Foundation cares more about making money than anything else. They should lose their charitable tax status. I usually read the nutritional information on packages of food and I've often thought that the Health Check is extremely misleading. Thanks for doing this story. Posted by: Kris | Jan 26, 08 08:07 PM

I am disgusted with the Heart and Stroke Foundation; like our government, it is supported by big business. To think I used to buy foods with the health check symbol. No wonder I had a heart attack two months ago. That spokeswoman for the foundation was an outright deceiver. I am of the opinion that nothing this government does to protect the health of the public, is of any value to us. Posted by: Andy Hartshorn | Jan 26, 08 08:10 PM

You can easily make delicious nutritious quick and inexpensive meals from scratch if you know how: Marinate, bake chicken/fish on baking paper and use electrical steamer with a timer. Nothing is easier; you don't even need to be in the kitchen to do it. Avoid buying anything processed and buy lots of colorful produce. I have been cooking that way for several years now: I look about 15 years or even more younger (I hear that every week), have a lot of energy and my weight stays the same, my skin is soft and glowing, never get a cold etc. Posted by: Kristina K. | Jan 26, 08 08:15 PM

I've been making my own meals from scratch for a time but was still disgusted about the heart check ratings nonsense. Wendy Mesley is brilliant. I'm sheepish to admit that I got the giggles and cheered when she interviewed the heart and stroke official. She's so tough and so right. Posted by: Audrey | Jan 26, 08 08:35 PM

Being on diabetic and salt restricted diets for over 50 years has enabled me to stay reasonably healthy. Having a faulty "health check" system (sponsored by any entity) in-place, sure doesn't make it any easier. The program/protocol developed at Yale should be adopted immediately by Health Canada. Very informative show. It confirmed many of my suspicions about what is in our food. Why so much salt and sugar added now? Posted by: Doug Johnson | Jan 26, 08 08:43 PM

I was pleased to see you bringing this Heart/Stroke signal to our attention. A month ago I received by mail, a recipe book from the Heart/Stroke Foundation. All the recipes included a tin of Campbell's soup. I had confirmed years ago that these soups contained too much salt, and monosodium glutamate. I sent an e-mail to the Foundation, bringing this to their attention and asking why they were advocating the use of these soups. No answer of course. I realized it was a money grab for them and advised them that they would get no further contributions from my small pensions. Posted by: Ruth Charnell | Jan 26, 08 10:47 PM

The only word that comes to mind is BETRAYED! While a disclaimer appears on the packaging that it is a paid endorsement who reads the small print? In my eyes, this seriously undermines the credibility of the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation and I will pay very close attention to any further endorsements with suspicion. Posted by: Deborah L | Jan 27, 08 09:01 AM

I found your H & S endorsement report to be very good. I thought that Wendy Mesley should have cornered Madam Spokewoman who was defending the indefensible -- a credible foundation selling its endorsement to be plastered on soup cans and packaged food that are bad diet choices, in relation precisely to heart attacks and strokes. I wish though Ms. Mesley had been less nice, played more the devil's advocate. Madam P.R.'s "defense" of these endorsements was feeble and outrageous, but I felt she got away with it. As a footnote, I walked into a new Sobey's Store this morning and all the cash registers and the enormous customer service area were covered with big red hearts asking for a handout for, you guessed it, the said Foundation. What a crock! Posted by: Maurice Olsen | Jan 27, 08 10:37 AM

This is a story that left me so mad! So mad that an organization such as theirs could endorse these so called "healthier choices". I never have relied on these "health check" symbols, no matter what the organization, whether it be Heart and Stroke, or PC Blue Menu, for example. I ALWAYS read the labels, and look for sodium content, fat content, sugar content. That is really the only way to decide if the product is good for you. Shame on the Heart and Stroke Foundation for misleading consumers, as well as any other organization that does the same. I don't know how the lady from the Heart and Stroke Health Check Program could stand there and defend the health check label on the Milk Buddies and the Igor muffins! Ridiculous! These are things I could never and would never offer to my children as a healthy choice for a nutritious snack! Insane! On the other hand, as consumers, we must all be very conscientious about reading ingredient labels and nutrition information. It is the information from the labels that must help us make our choices. After all, the information on the labels IS right in front of your eyes, and it is that information on the label that must guide you to making the decision. Pair this information with Canada's Food Guide, and consumers are able to make healthier choices. I hope that one of the results of people seeing this program is that consumers make themselves more informed by reading labels and making sense of the nutrition information on them. Posted by: M. Leamon | Jan 27, 08 11:41 AM

It would have been nice to use a Canadian company to do the comparison. Remember our south of the border neighbours. are the fattest people in the world. Posted by: cheryl fisher | Jan 27, 08 06:36 PM

I have bought these health check products and did not read the labels trusting they were a really good choice only because the heart and stroke have the check on them. NO MORE. I was very upset with the rep from the Heart and Stroke. She knows this is not good and still supports giving children something that is truly not a good choice for them. Posted by: Betty Shorey | Jan 27, 08 09:13 PM

Once again Marketplace is looking out for public interest. It is something the Heart & Stroke Foundation is obviously overlooking for the sake of easy money from food producers. I have contacted the H&SF (online) stating they have not only sullied their reputation, but that I will no longer support their organization. I hope others will do the same. If enough people decide to give their donations and volunteer support to other organizations, maybe they will get the message that is is not in their best interest to mislead the public. Posted by: Roberta Saga | Jan 27, 08 10:22 PM

Whose responsibility is it to provide national evaluation standards for our foods? Where should the funds come from? I wonder how many of the people that Wendy interviewed would have been willing to have their tax payer $$ go towards a food evaluation system? True enough, the Heart and Stroke foundation need to revisit their standards and methodology in granting the Health Check symbol but a better question or conclusion would be is why are the heart and stroke foundation doing it in the first place? I would have liked Wendy M to have used her access and clout of the CBC to get to the heart of the issue...that is, do the people want a system? Is it important? Will it make a difference? AND, WHY is the government not involved? In a society where health issues stemming from the lack of a proper diet are becoming a burden on society why not use some of our taxpayer dollars to begin to do something about the problem? The government should be providing some funding for national system that guides our purchasing power. We either have a comprehensive, evidence-based system or nothing at all. Posted by: T.A. | Jan 28, 08 01:33 AM

Great timing. We had just done the grocery that morning. We compared the Dempster's whole wheat brown bread we had bought against a Country Harvest whole wheat we just happened to decide to try and the country harvest was better in EVERY category yet its the Dempster which had the Health Check label. Posted by: Roy | Jan 28, 08 09:25 AM

I commend the Heart & Stroke Foundation for making some changes to its health check criteria. Unfortunately they may have done this too hastily. There are still many ares of concern in their criteria. The almost "cross the board figure" of 480 mg sodium or less per designated serving may be an okay standard for a whole meal, but allowing this for a cup of kid's breakfast cereal (considering most bowls hold 1.5-2 cups) would have kids/ adults consuming almost half their recommended sodium intake at breakfast). The heart & stroke foundation may also wish to re-evaluate the "no saturated fat limit" on margarines. Margarines made with palm or coconut oils can still pack a big punch of heart un-healthy saturated fats. Posted by: erica ogilvie | Jan 28, 08 11:00 AM

Twenty seconds into the program, I was already disappointed to see "the food police" armed with numerous plastic bags. While other CBC documentaries try to discourage the use of these polluting items, the Marketplace seems to be promoting their use. More attention to detail please! Posted by: Olena Bykova | Feb 4, 08 09:00 PM

Are other food labels like Blue menu the same as the heart and stroke labels? Posted by: Toneya Muessle | Feb 5, 08 08:02 PM

The problem with systems such as the health check program is that it takes a number of resources that all cost money. A non-profit organization such as heart and stroke needs to generate some income from the program in order to "break even". A program would be more effective if run by something such as the federal government, which could delegate funds to a new program for research and implementation. A government run program should be less biased (never free from lobbying of course) and every single food would be analyzed without having to buy into the program. The nutrition label that was only brought in a few years ago is an excellent example of unbiased food awareness for consumers; it just involves a little more reading. The percentages of recommended daily intake are an excellent guideline when present on the label. Each food item in a grocery store should be labelled under the same system, and if the heart and stroke has to change its guidelines then products carrying other labels such as 'healthy choice' and 'blue menu' should have to change theirs as well. Posted by: KJB | Feb 6, 08 10:01 PM

I would like to thank you for breaking this story. As a nurse here in Ontario I am truly speechless and appalled at the heart and stroke foundation for taking advantage of and for defrauding their most vunerable comsumers. Everyday, I see patients with cardiovascular related illnessess, obesity, hyperlipidema, diabetes and the list goes on mostly due to poor diet and lack of exercise. Often, we would recommend that patients follow the guidelines set by the heart and stroke foundation for healthy eating.... I feel like I have been punched in the stomach and so very betrayed. Patients are confused as to what they should be consuming as part of a healthy diet. Who is protecting our most vunerable members of society from those that are suppose to be protecting them.... Posted by: Sharon Turner | Feb 14, 08 03:31 PM

Supposing we take at face value that the payment is to recoup costs (I would really love to believe that), there are still several fatal flaws. The criteria themselves are very flawed. I could have almost accepted the 'we are doing the best we can' argument, had they not been trying to get the government to make them the 'only' national system in Canada. Once they crossed that line they have to accept the responsibility that comes with it. Clearly they are not ready to accept that responsibility and the costs that come with it. Posted by: Janice Montbiand | Mar 8, 08 03:30 PM

The Heart and Stroke Foundation has lost a lot of credibility with the public now and deservedly so. Promoting products with higher fat, higher sugar, and higher sodium than products sold by companies that didn't BUY these food label checks....Shame on the Heart and Stroke Foundation. I'm a nurse and this sure was an eye opener to me.....Wendy Mesley did a wonderful interview with the Heart and Stroke rep........she 'challenged' the Heart and Stroke Foundation and they need to be challenged. They obviously do NOT have the best interests of Canadian consumers at "HEART"..... Posted by: heather yeo | Mar 26, 08 07:43 PM

how can heart & stroke stand there and say they performed up to standards? they have missed the target by allowing someone to try and raise funds for heart 7 stroke by asking the food companies to bye in to their so called health check. the lady representing h&s on tv with wendy was surely out of her league. health canada, which has dietitians and nutritionist on staff should be able to look at this and offer some sort of objective opinion. good work marketplace Posted by: Gilles | Mar 26, 08 09:05 PM

Excellent report. I would love to see everyone speak with their MP and mention how much you'd appreciate an ONQI style program. Posted by: Billy | Mar 26, 08 10:23 PM

Re the findings on foods which have the heart check signage. How can we continue to put up with this kind of treatment? Who are these people of the Heart and Stroke Foundation? How can they be running such a scam on the backs of our health? I would not have thought that such a prestigious foundation would lead us down the garden path! We have always relied on such groups to protect us ...not to make us buyers of fat, sugar, and salt ridden foods because we believed in them. And to add more hurt to injury, they are selling this heart check label to whomever for that almighty dollar whilst we are loading up on CRAP that we thought we were avoiding! This is criminal! We are all consumers and we should be mad as hell about this kind of treatment from sources that we thought we could trust. If I had a private business and did this sort of thing, how long do you think my business would exist? Come on people we have to demand that this heart check system be condemned right now and not two years from now. More than ever we are being riddled with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, etc, etc, and it appears that The Heart and Stroke Foundation is helping us along that route. SHAME! SHAME! Posted by: Laura M. Rowsell | Mar 30, 08 12:04 PM

This program constitutes a public health hazard. Make sure it is replaced by a "credible" program, i.e., one that is free of corporate money. As is, it is exclusively a market ploy or gimmick. Posted by: Claude Cote | Mar 30, 08 12:37 PM

I am disgusted with the Heart and Stroke "Health Check" program. Please suggest the best way, that we as individuals can force the government to change this useless information being printed on food labels. Health Issues and rising obesity rates in our country demand that accurate guides are provided to people to assist in making better food choices for themselves and their families. Posted by: Susan Robertson | Jun 9, 08 02:03 PM

I'm pretty disgusted by what this report uncovered. I will no longer place any merit in the Health Check program. I will no longer donate to the HSF when the canvaser comes around my office and I will be darn sure to pass the story along to all my co-workers when the canvaser does arrive. Sounds to me like HSF has become a bloated organization that needs a few lean years to trim some of their fat. Posted by: Dan | Jul 26, 08 05:02 PM

I appreciate the coverage given by Wendy Mesley and her team to these unregulated claims that organizations like the Heart & Stroke foundation make and get away with deliberately misleading people under the guise of goodness. It is absolutely incumbent upon us as individuals to look out for ourselves, that is, if we decide to live with open eyes and ears. Posted by: Maria | Aug 6, 08 12:22 AM