Phase one of an education campaign and a website to accompany the recently introduced Health Star Rating System has been launched.
The Assistant Minister for Health Fiona Nash said the HSR system will make it much easier for shoppers to make informed choices about healthier food options.
"We've worked closely with stakeholders on this healthy food choices initiative which has resulted in this voluntary scheme receiving broad support from public health groups, from food companies and from supermarkets,” minister Nash said.
"Although to date there are only a few labelled products on the shelves, starting with Monster Muesli, a number of companies have now indicated they will be rolling out the HSR system."
Kez's Kitchen and Sanitarium have also recently rolled out products displaying the health stars.
Minister Nash said this week's launch was designed to inform people about what the stars mean. This is the first stage of the campaign which will intensify over coming months as more food products display the healthy star rating.
"The HSR system is voluntary for industry to adopt over the next five years, as agreed by the Australian and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation in June 2014," she said.
“This will enable cost effective implementation, and provide time for manufacturers to work on reformulation-to include less saturated fats, sugars or sodium in their products.”
