Sugar content will remain high in Coco Pops, despite moves to make the cereal healthier

I doubt you’re really wondering about the sugar or salt content of your breakfast cereal as you sleepily tip it into the bowl first thing in the morning.

But yesterday Kellogg’s announced they intend to reduce the amount of sugar in Coco Pops by 15 per cent, saying they had “listened to mums”.

While we think the move by Kellogg’s is definitely a step in the right direction, Coco Pops and lots of other breakfast cereals on supermarket shelves will still be high in sugar, even after the reduction.

It may be hard to spot this though, because the information on food packaging can be so confusing. We don’t have a standard labelling system in the UK so we’re left comparing a confusing multitude of different figures and symbols to try and work out what’s really in the food we’re about to buy.

What we need is a clear and simple food labelling scheme that we can all understand. A system including traffic light colours on the front of packaging has been proven to give families the most helpful information to make at a glance decisions about what’s really in the food they buy.

Food companies have been extremely reluctant to consider traffic light labels, which makes us wonder what have they got to hide?

By Beatrice Brooke, policy manager for the BHF

• Find out why traffic light labels help make healthy choices into easy choices with our food label quiz.
• Join the debate on the BHF Facebook page
  
  
  
  

Heart matters!

You might not know it, but we've got a whole load of really useful health tools in our free members area on the BHF website, Heart Matters.

You can:

• Take a lifestyle check
  Find out what more you can do to keep your heart healthy
• Find out more about your weight
  Are you the right weight for you height?
• How much booze is safe?
  Find out with our online tool.

There's also loads of advice on how to get and stay healthy. Including:

• Diet advice
  Are you eating the right balance of foods?
• Five a day fruit and veg portions
  Find out what a portion really means, and how to get your five a day!

And coming soon we've got a whole lot of healthy, tasty recipes to help you keep your diet varied and interesting! Sign up today, it's free and really useful for keeping your heart health in check.

Red is for your heart

It's National Wear Red Day, and there's no better time to think about why we're putting on our best red frock or why we ironed that red shirt. Heart disease affects so many people - walk down any street in the UK and you will find people affected by it.

Meet Niamh and Joseph Edmunds. They're doing a 5 mile sponsored walk for their Granddad, Bob Rigby, who died late last year of heart complications. He was 81. Dad Paul says:

"The Staff, nurses and surgeons were brilliant at Liverpool heart hospital where he had an 8 hour operation and then was taken down for another 3 hour operation.

"He was a big supporter of charities, especially the British Heart Foundation. He was a great Dad and Granddad and Father-in-law, he was kind, thoughtful and is missed very much."

They've raised a brilliant £350 so far and there's still more to collect!

Joseph, Niamh, Mum Liz and Dad Paul would like to say a very special thank you to all the staff, doctors and nurses at Southport and District hospital for all of their very hard work that they do. Also a very, very big thank you for the surgeons at Liverpool Heart hospital for their hard work in looking after a very special man and doing all that they could to help make him better.

We want to thank everyone out there who's wearing red, having bake sales, jumping rope, running marathons, riding bikes, and climbing hills, volunteering in our shops, sharing their experiences, and with what they know, comforting others.

Together we can beat heart disease.

• Tell us why you're going Red for Heart on Facebook
• Pay in online | Send us your photos

Red alert

The city of Lincoln might be in for a treat (weather permitting!) for Wear Red Day tomorrow! The Red Arrows will be painting the skies red with one of their famous heart shape formations.

We haven't got a time yet (we'll try to announce it on Facebook), but the best place to see this amazing display will be in the city centre with a clear view north over the city into the skyline above the Cathedral.

Red 6 Flight Lieutenant Mike Ling says: “We are still in our training season at the moment, so we're still perfecting the Heart manoeuvre. However, we will feel especially proud to be practising it on Friday in recognition of National Heart Month and Wear Red Day, and the incredible work that the British Heart Foundation does in fighting heart disease.”

National Heart Month - just one week left!

We hope you're all as excited as we are to be part of National Heart Month. The BHF offices will be joining in with Wear Red Day on the 26th February, and we hope you are too! There's so many fun things you can do, and if you're low on inspiration have a look at all the great things everyone else is planning.

Amanda went red for her daughter, Victoria: "She underwent surgery for an unexpected heart condition at just 21 years old, and has since made a great recovery. We had a red party at home and asked people to interpret red however they wanted – the photo shows how inventive they were feeling! We had a great night and raised £750 for the BHF."

And if you, your colleagues or your friends need any more convincing, take a look at this lovely video and see what we're fighting for!

And if celebs are your thing, you'll be joining Kelly, Sharon and Ozzy if you wear red on Friday 26th February! There are so many exciting things going on, why not add yours to the mix?

Getting creative for National Heart Month!

We get so many people doing wonderfully creative things to help us raise money and fight heart disease! For instance, loads of brilliant local bands and solo artists are putting their heart and soul into making singles for us.

Here's just a sample of their talent...

Miccoli - Angels & Demons



Two of Miccoli's band members have personal experience with heart disease - they have a condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.

Knock Twice - I Heart You



Formed by a local fundraiser, Knock Twice released this single for Valentine's day! Good luck to them in their fundraising efforts.

Every penny you raise to help us beat heart disease is appreciated. Thank you for all your hard work so far in National Heart Month, and don't forget to Wear Red on 26 February!

The party perspective

The leaders of the UK's three main political parties, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg have all taken time out of their busy pre-election schedules to answer some probing questions on what they're going to do about heart health.

Find out who the Prime Minister would write a love note too, how the Conservative party leader keeps his heart in shape, and how Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg would help address how different areas of the UK have such wildly different standards of health care.

We asked everyone the same questions so you can find out exactly what the big parties are planning for heart patients.

Download the interviews with Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg now!

Who's running this town?

It looks like Santa is! At least in Newbury, Tunbridge Wells, Milton Keynes, Basingstoke, Cardiff, Salford, Reading... the list goes on and on (and everyone on it is nice, not naughty!). The folks of Hayling Island (19 December) and Sheffield (20 December) are still expecting a visit too, so it's not too late to get your Santa on!

A massive thank you to everyone who's dedicated their time, money, and effort this Christmas to helping us beat heart disease. You're all legends! And our events teams across the country have done a fantastic job organising it all.

Your intrepid online reporter volunteered for the Reading Santa Jog, and I have to tell you there really is no sight quite like several hundred Santas, elves, and suspiciously puppy-eyed reindeers cresting over the top of a hill! Take a look at some of the highlights so far:

Happy Christmas everybody!

L2B 2010 details revealed, summer just around the corner...

What better way to shrug off thoughts of the approaching wintry weather?

We've just published registration details for next summer's London to Brighton Bike Ride!

If you need convincing, or even just reminding, have a look at the photos from this year's ride (wow, what a warm day that was).

Sue's big day out

We get so many volunteers who do so much amazing work for us. We're really grateful that people devote their time to help out - you're all helping us to finally beat heart disease, together!

You can find our British Heart Foundation shops on nearly every high street (find your nearest one here), and they raise loads of money to help us fund our heart research, helplines, doctors and nurses. They're also a huge part of the community, as volunteer Sue Woodrow recently found out at the Colchester shop:

"Serena the Manageress of the shop greeted me and showed me around, I was introduced to John the Assistant Manager and all the dedicated volunteers. All the staff were very friendly and I was made to feel very welcome.

"There were lots of bags of clothes and bric a brac to sort out into various trolleys and bags and then clothes were steamed, tagged and placed on hangers, bric a brac was priced accordingly before all was sent to the shop floor. Thank you all for my cups of tea to keep me going.

"Mike and Jill showed me how to tag the clothes, more involved than I thought, had to put in different codes for different items on the price tickets, thank you both for being patient with me.

"I would like to say how hard Serena, John and their staff work and the dedication they showed, the shop was very well run and I was pleased to be part of the team. Thank you for making my day enjoyable!"

Find out more about how to volunteer for us.

Blogging from the heart

"A lot of exciting things have happened recently. Not only did I get an operation date I got a new car!"

Leanne (pictured right) is a 21-year-old heart patient waiting for a heart valve replacement operation.

She's currently writing a regular blog for our young people's website yheart, and is into her fourth week of posting.

Read her latest entry here

Yoobots are back!

But this time they are not alone...

How Huw donated himself to the BHF

Tune in to C4 for The Secret Millionaire at 9pm tonight, and before the show watch one of our supporters Huw Roberts (pictured right) talking about the BHF!

Huw will appear in a Vodafone Foundation Donate Yourself ad, which asked members of the public which charity they support.

Huw is a key volunteer from Cardiff, and raised over £6000 for the BHF after completing a 70-mile pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

His drive to fundraise for the BHF came after his father was fitted with a pacemaker.

Scotland's young Braveheart returns to fight heart disease

Andrew Weir, the actor who played Young Hamish in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart at the age of 13, has raised over £1,100 for British Heart Foundation Scotland in memory of his dad.

Andrew, originally from Ayr, left Scotland for New York in 2005 and now lives in San Francisco, California. He is currently appearing as Robert Burns in a promotion for Homecoming 2009 on the website scotland.org

He organised the charity golf event at Belleisle municipal golf course in Ayr in memory of his father David, who died suddenly of a heart attack in August 1999, aged just 49. By tragic coincidence Andrew’s grandfather was 48 when he died - also of a heart attack.

Andrew says: ”My father was incredibly sociable and popular and when he died, his friends gathered enough money to erect a bench in his memory at the first tee at Belleisle golf course so it is a very special place for the whole family. We had so much interest from people who knew my dad that we didn’t really need to promote the event.”

The tournament was organised by Andrew and close family friend, Charlie McGill. It was a great success with over 60 golfers taking part and the event continued into the evening with a fundraiser at The Chase in Ayr. Raffle prizes were donated by William Grant & Sons and John Higgins donated a signed snooker cue.

Andrew added: ”John Murtagh, the actor from Braveheart, Rob Roy and River City, introduced the raffle. John and I worked together for many years in the entertainment business. He recently suffered a heart attack while working in Glasgow and so was keen to come along and promote the vital work of BHF Scotland.”

Working with heart!

We're counting down to World Heart Day on 27 September 2009.

World Heart Day is a global event aimed at spreading the message that heart disease is the world’s leading cause of death, claiming 17.2 million lives each year.

We are a member of the event's creators, the World Heart Federation, and are helping to make people aware that 80% of premature deaths from heart disease could be saved if key risk factors such as smoking, bad diet and physical inactivity are avoided.

World Heart Day this year is based on the theme of inspiring health in the workplace - which is also the subject of our brand new Health at Work website.

You can read more about World Heart Day and how to join a Facebook group for the event here

Hearts in Europe

Our Chief Executive Peter Hollins (pictured right) was in Brussels yesterday as President of the European Heart Network, to chair a conference organised by EHN and the European Society of Cardiologists.

Here's Peter's report on how the day went...

"The conference was discussing the outcome of Work Package 5 of the Euroheart project, run by ESC and EHN and part financed by the EU. Odd coming back as a visitor to the city in which I lived for six years.

"The project compares rates of heart-related deaths around Europe and looks at the policies which are in place to tackle heart disease.

"We had a reasonably good turn-out for the meeting, but were very pleased that both the EU Commissioner for Health and the Director General of the Directorate came.

"The UK is so-so in overall heart health terms, and I pointed out in my speech that everybody around Europe really knows what needs to be done to improve heart health, but the political will is lacking and there are some huge entrenched interests - particularly food, tobacco (still!) and to some extent big pharma who have a strong interest in the status quo.

"I pointed out that we need a much greater spend on prevention, consistent tobacco taxation across Europe and proper food labelling - and I have to be honest, I'm a bit evangelical about this!

"They are all going to come in the end, but the Commission made it quite clear that we have to be realistic about what the EU and national governments will do at a time of economic stringency."

Paris when it sizzles

Love and marriage went together like a horse and ...bicycle? on the British Heart Foundation's London to Paris ride this August.

After the 280 mile ride from Big Ben to the Palace of Versailles, the first thing people usually want to do is have a good meal or maybe a cold bath, but instead one of our riders whipped out a diamond ring and proposed to his girlfriend. The romance of it all had the BHF staff in tears!

This ride was organised when our September London to Paris event filled up so quickly that we just couldn't disappoint everyone who wanted to join in. What made this ride very special was that we all got to know every rider and support driver by name.

BHF organiser Kate Sparks said: “We were so lucky with the group of people we got. I miss all the teams today and can’t wait for the next one in September. A huge thanks to our volunteers who showed continued enthusiasm throughout the whole three days."

Whether they were riding for a loved one, took it as a personal challenge, were on a work team-bonding excursion or just fancied it, our riders ended up friends for life.

We hope you all have good memories of fantastic times, new friends made, beautiful roads ridden, many hills conquered and very sore bottoms. Here's hoping we all get invited to the wedding, too!

Share your story - help save lives

Here at the British Heart Foundation, we need real stories to include in our educational and fundraising materials.

We also receive regular requests from the media wishing to speak to people who have been affected by heart disease.

Whether you have experienced a heart condition yourself, or been affected by the experiences of a close friend or family member, your story could help change and save lives.

At the moment, we are particularly looking for:

• Women under the age of 40 with experience of heart conditions
• Children and teenagers with experience of heart conditions
• Families where more than one member has been affected by heart disease

To send us your story, please choose from one of the following options:

• I am a heart patient
  
• My child is a heart patient
  
• A family member or friend of mine is a heart patient

If you would like to help raise awareness of heart disease, please click the link above that's relevant to you and a member of BHF staff will be in touch with you.

Information from this form will only be available to BHF staff for the purpose of matching your story to BHF publications or publicity and will only be used with your prior consent.

For more information, please contact us on 020 7754 0153 or email yourstory@bhf.org.uk

Making waves in the fight against heart disease

Our East Region Events Manager Melanie Blackman sends us this report from the weekend's Brighton Sea Swim...

"It was 9am, Saturday. The weather was amazing and the sea 'glassy' (which means pretty perfect I'm reliably informed) when suddenly a voice came over the radio: 'The sharks are in the water!'

"But there was no need to panic. It just the first of three groups of BHF fundraising heroes taking to the water for our third annual Brighton Sea Swim.

"Around 250 Sharks, Dolphins and Seals registered for the 1km swim and decided this was the summer they would get wet, get fit and save lives.

"The media were out in full force capturing the event and some of the incredible life stories that inspire people to take part in our events.

"Also there were a film crew for TV channel Five, who are producing a series about life in Brighton . It's due to be aired early September so make sure you check it out.

"Thanks to the entire team who worked so hard on the day to make this year's Brighton Sea Swim the very best yet!"

Good for your 'elf

Okay, okay, it's only July, we know, so we'll keep the Christmas puns to a minimum...

Our Santas are relaxing and taking in a few rays (now we know where he gets his shiny red nose!) in the summer sun, but they wanted to remind you of some fantastic events we've got going on this festive season.

Every year thousands of people across the country slip on their Santa suits in aid of the British Heart Foundation. Our Santa Jogs are a lovely way to get into the Christmas spirit, raise your heart rates and save lives. You can choose to walk, jog or run the routes with a sea of fellow Santas (sunbathing optional)!

Find a Santa Jog near you
and help us save lives this
Christmas:

• Basingstoke
• Cardiff
• Milton Keynes
• Reading
• Salford Quays
• Swansea