Restaurants and caterers which want to join the system, apply for the right to use the system from Finnish Heart Association.
In order to get the right to use Heart Symbol, a restaurant must fulfill all criteria in at least one meal that includes main course and side dishes. The criteria is based on Finnish national nutritional recommendations (by National Nutrition Counsil).
Meal with Heart Symbol includes:
- Main course
- Side dishes
1. Criteria for main course
| Type of main course | Nutrition content/ 100 g, maximum | |||
| Fat, g | Saturated fat, g | Salt (NaCl), g | Alternative product | |
| Soups | 3 (5)* | 1 (1,5) | 0,7 | Convenience food with Heart Symbol |
| Main dish porridges (** | 3 | 1 | 0,5 | Convenience food with Heart Symbol |
| Casseroles, risottos, pasta meals, pizza, salads with chicken, fish etc. (*** | 5 (7) | 2 (2) | 0,75 | Convenience food with Heart Symbol |
| Main dish sauces ( e.g. vegetable curry, chicken sause) | 9 (11) | 3,5 (3,5) | 0,9 | Convenience food with Heart Symbol |
| Foods served in pieces (e.g. Steaks, cutlets, rolls) with or without sauce | 8 (12) | 3 (3,5) | 0,9 | Convenience food with Heart Symbol |
*The figures in brackets consern fish meals
** The flakes etc. used must have at least 6% dietary fibre. If a soup or porridge meal is served with bread and toppings (e.g. cold cuts or cheese), they should meet the Heart Symbol criteria
*** There has to be at least 150g vegetables/portion in salads. All other vegetables except for potato is taken into account.
2. Side dishes for main courses
| Side dish | Nutrition content/ 100 g | |||
| fat, g | saturated fat, g | Salt (NaCl), g | Fibre (of dry weight), g | |
| pasta | -* | up to 0,7 | up to 0,3 | at least 6 |
| ricemixes, barley groats, cereal and vegetable mixes etc. | - | up to 0,7 | up to 0,3 | at least 6 |
| wholegrain rice, rice and vegetable mix | - | up to 0,7 | up to 0,3 | at least 3 |
| boiled potatoes | no added fat | - | no added salt | - |
| other potato side dishes (e.g. mashed potatoes, wedged potatoes) | - | up to 0,7 | up to 0,5 | - |
*(–) No criterion for this factor
3. Other side dishes
| Side dish | Nutrition content/ 100 g, maximum | ||||
| fat, g | saturated fat % | salt, g | fibre, g | Alternative product | |
| bread | fresh bread up to 0,9; crisp bread up to 1,2 | At least 6 At least 10
| product with Heart Symbol | ||
| spreads | preferably minimum 60 (g | up to 30 % | up to 1 | product with Heart Symbol | |
milk or buttermilk plant based drinks | up to 0,5
up to 2 | product with Heart Symbol | |||
Vegetables side dish (*: - Fresh vegetables | in marinade up tp 20 | no added salt | product with Heart Symbol | ||
Vegetable side dish - Cooked vegetables** | in marinade up to 20 | up to 0,3 | product with Heart Symbol | ||
Salad dressing Oil for salad | preferably 25 or more | up to 20 | up to 1 | product or vegetable oil with Heart Symbol |
*) fruits or berries can complement the supply of vegetables
** For cooked vegetables, all fat that meet the Heart Symbol criteria (e.g. oil, margarine or a liquid vegetable fat product) can also be used.
In addition to criteria, restaurant must give customer information: healthier main dishes and meal components are marked with symbol on buffet.