No More AHA Heart-Checks For Desserts

The American Heat Association will no longer include desserts in its popular and familiar heart-check program. Apparently it took till now to realize that desserts, loaded with added sugars and thus calories, aren't exactly heart-healthy, even when low (or lower than alternatives) in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Programs like the AHA heart-check can be useful to consumers, but they often catch the organizations that run them in a conflict of interests: the programs are designed to educate consumers, but they are also hugely lucrative, with more checked products meaning more income. It's nice to see one of the major players voluntarily acknowledging some measure of fault, and moving the emphasis of the program away from the profit-motive side of the equation. Still, the fact that till now cheesecake and ice cream have been heart-checkable is a good illustration of how these programs can be misleading.

More here.