TLC Working Hard For More Ticks
Tender Loving Cuisine's Chief Executive Officer Jack Barker has re-affirmed his support of the Heart Foundation's Tick program.
"More than half of our home delivered meals already carry the Heart Foundation Tick of approval because they meet strict nutrition standards," Mr. Barker said yesterday.
"However, I think it appropriate to announce our continuing efforts to have more of our dinners carry the Tick. We have living proof among our clients that our nutritious meals allow people to live at home longer rather than go into nursing homes."
Vegetables are a very important part of healthier meals and even meals that do not have a Heart Foundation Tick include at least 100g of vegetables.
Tender Loving Cuisine, which provides home-delivered meals to the elderly and disabled of Sydney, Newcastle and the Central Coast, employs Maria Natoli as nutrition manager.
Mrs. Natoli is also the food technician and quality control agent for TLC.
"Once a fortnight I visit the factory at Marrickville with Helen Young (fellow TLC worker) to assess quality control and address any food issues," said Mrs. Natoli.
"Part of our job is to review all of our meals to ensure that they are of the highest possible quality.
This is particularly important for those on special needs diets. For instance, if the saturated fat is too high, our meals would not measure up to the Tick?s strict specifications.
I spend weeks and months working on food quality and ingredients. I guess you could say I have learned the hard way. The Heart Foundation Tick Program is very pleased with our efforts to formulate products that meet their standards."
Toni Fear, the Heart Foundation Tick Program's Nutrient Criteria Officer said: "Creating a wide range of healthier meals for home delivery is an important priority and we applaud TLC's willingness to take on this challenge".
Lucy Walker, the Tick Program's Business Relations Manager said in relation to their random testing: "We sampled some of your (TLC's) products ? we were most impressed with the presentation and amount of vegetables."
The Heart Foundation Tick Program began in 1989 and is a public health initiative aimed at improving the nutritional profile of the Australian food supply.
The Tick Program has developed nutritional standards for over 50 different food categories. TLC meals are approved in the "Ready Meals" category.
All Tick products are independently tested to show they meet the Tick's strict nutrition standards.
"TLC aims to actively contribute to a healthier community by continuing to develop Tick approved products," Mr. Barker concluded.
If you would like to know more about the Heart Foundation Tick Program, please visit http://www.heartfoundation.com.au/tick
Copyright, Tender Loving Cuisine
