Food companies will be in the spotlight after food and health ministers from the federal, state and territory governments gave their final sign off on the new heath star front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme.
So far Monster Health Food is the only company to have adopted the health stars on its packaging, though Sanitarium has also committed to adopting the new system across its entire product range, which includes Weet-Bix and Up&Go.
Woolworths has also announced its intention to change the packaging across thousands of its private label products to embrace the scheme.
The health star rating system gives food and beverage products a rating out of five based on their levels of both nutritious and unhealthy ingredients. It has faced mixed response from the food industry, mostly around the algorithms used to calculate the rating.
The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), which had been critical of some elements of the scheme, applauded the fact that the system is voluntary, would coexist with the Daily Intake Guide and now had an extended five year implementation period.
The AFGC said the constructive approach taken by the Assistant Minister for Health, Senator Fiona Nash and her department in working with the food industry on the new scheme had resulted in significant improvements.
“The improved design of the Health Star Rating scheme, flexibility around its introduction and acknowledgement that it can coexist with existing front of pack schemes such as the Daily Intake Guide and the Heart Foundation Tick, are significant improvements,” said AFGC CEO, Gary Dawson.
“In addition there is acceptance that it can be expensive for cash strapped companies to adopt major labelling changes and therefore a voluntary approach with an extended five year implementation period has been adopted.”
“The AFGC absolutely supports the right of companies to make their own assessment given ongoing concerns about aspects of the calculator used to determine a food’s star rating, and anomalies with respect to some food categories,” Dawson said.
“Today’s ministerial council acknowledged the potential for the system to mislead consumers where a star rating may be inconsistent with the Australian Dietary Guidelines or when used to make comparisons across categories. This requires further work.”
Consumer group Choice said the scheme would provide a strong incentive to food manufacturers to improve the nutritional profile of their products and get more stars. Choice also said there is a great PR opportunity waiting for the early adopters.
Woolworths said it will change the packaging across thousands of its private label products to embrace the health star rating scheme.
