Food and health ministers throughout Australia last week reinstated the Health Star Rating (HSR) scheme which will allow food manufacturers to voluntarily adopt a new front-food labelling standard to tell consumers how healthy their products are.

But with foods already carrying nutritional information, does the new system make it easier for consumers to make informed decisions about which foods to buy?

Probably. It reduces a panel of numbers on the side or back of the product to a star rating, and a smaller list of numbers (see below).

Michael Moore, chief executive officer of the Public Health Association of Australia, said it was the “easiest system we found from comparing [it] to other systems around the world”. Mr Moore co-chaired the committee which developed the system.

As shown above, the new star system has two parts.

On the left you will see a star rating anywhere from half-a-star to five stars. The higher the star rating, the higher it will be in health value.

To the right of the star rating, you will see the amount of kilojoules, saturated fats, sugars, sodium and nutrients.

Food manufacturers will also be able to add another nutrient like fibre if they which to, according to Mr Moore.

How does this differ from current food labelling?

Currently, calculating the health value is up to the consumer, who must look at the labelling to determine what, if any, health value the food has.

The star rating system gives the product a simple star rating as well as through a nutrient profile – how much energy, fat, sugar and so on it contains.

Mr Moore also said, this type of system will allow those with hypertension, or diabetes, to see the key nutrients they need to know, rather than having to turn over the product and calculate it for themselves.

So how does the HSR scheme work? 

In order for food manufacturers to get a verified star rating they must submit their products’ nutritional information via a website which will then give them a rating based on a calculation under NPSC.

A score is determined:

… based on the amount of energy, saturated fat, total sugars and sodium in the food, along with the amount of fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and in some cases, dietary fibre and protein.

–foodstandards.com.au

Mr Moore said the public availability would add a level of public security, as consumers can act as verifiers to claims made by food manufacturers. An oversight committee would watch over all the claims made by food manufacturers so consumers aren’t lied to.

What’s the real change?

Angela Cartwright, campaign manager for CHOICE, noted how the bigger picture here is to begin to get consumers to demand the star rating system and begin to demand it in all food production sectors.

Mr Moore echoed this sentiment.

“The goal is to create a market shift in consumers to give manufacturers the incentive to do it. The ball is in the industry’s court.”

Woolworth’s jumped on board, and Monster Health Food Co, has been using the product on two of its muesli products.

In two years, the program will be evaluated and if it’s not widely adopted it will become mandatory in five years, according to the PHAA.