The Heart Foundation Tick has netted its first five star chef, with northern Sydney gourmet chain Pizzacutters launching six Tick approved pizzas today.Co-founder of Pizzacutters, Sam Lumbroso, was a five star hotel chef before joining brother Simon at Pizzacutters in 1998. With outlets in Wahroonga, Castle Hill and Mona Vale, Pizzacutters is now embarking on a national franchise expansion strategy.

“As a chef, it’s easy to reach for the butter, cream and salt to boost flavour. When you’re trying to earn the Tick, this isn’t an option as your recipes must meet the Heart Foundation’s strict nutrition standards,” Heart Foundation Food Supply Operations Manager, Coral Colyer, noted. “Pizzacutters has shown that with some creativity, quality ingredients and a serious commitment to health, you can produce tasty gourmet pizzas that are still a healthier choice.”

A Tick approved pizza at Pizzacutters has on average two thirds less salt and one third less saturated fat than comparable pizzas sold by the top two chains.

“By getting the Heart Foundation Tick of Approval we are not only showing our customers that we are dedicated to providing gourmet pizzas, we are also raising the bar on the quality of our pizza – making them healthier but not compromising the taste,” Simon Lumbroso said. “You’ll find a lot of the same high quality, fresh ingredients that we use on our regular pizzas on our Tick approved versions.”

The company is the second Australian pizza chain to respond to the Heart Foundation’s challenge, with Crust Gourmet Pizza bars launching the first Tick approved pizzas in early 2008.

With two relatively small, Australian companies now managing to earn the Tick, the Heart Foundation is calling on the pizza market leaders to provide genuinely healthier options.

“Healthier choices are essential in the pizza market with Australians buying more than 190 million take away pizzas each year and 15% of us indulging with a pizza on a weekly basis ,” Ms Coyer said. “The Heart Foundation measures a healthier meal by its overall nutritional value; not just one element. Fresh ingredients are great, but the health benefit is lost when the overall meal is loaded with salt and claims of ‘low fat’ are irrelevant if the meal provides little or no nutritional value.”

“Programs like MasterChef have seen a focus on ingredients, flavour and creativity. Now, it’s time to bring ‘health’ into the discussion too,” she added. “We need more people working in kitchens – commercially or at home – to show that taste and health are not mutually exclusive when it comes to food.”

In order to qualify for the Tick approved meals, Pizzacutters worked with the Heart Foundation for over six months to ensure the new pizzas met standards for serve size, saturated fat, salt and vegetables/fibre content.

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