Health Star Rating - Thoughts?

loiloi on 09/07/2015 - 20:08

Hey fellow OZ Bargainers,

Recently I've been noticing the new Health Star Rating on lots of products throughout the local supermarket. I've been comparing the star ratings of different products when I come across them.

I've noticed some products which have very high ratings (4.5 stars and 5 stars) that I would consider not too healthy and occasional foods.

For example: Milo has a star rating of 4.5 star rating however per 100 grams, Milo has 46.6 grams of sugar which in my opinion is high.

I've then noticed products such as salmon which are rated 2.5 / 3 stars - I would consider Salmon a healthy food as it is natural and unprocessed.

Somehow this doesn't seem right to me. I do try and eat natural foods with minimal added sugar.

What's more concerning, after looking into it on the Health Star Rating website it says:

"Food manufacturers and retailers are responsible for the correct and accurate use of the Health Star Rating system. This includes correctly calculating the Health Star Rating, accurately displaying nutrient information, ensuring consistency of information between the Health Star Rating and the Nutrition Information Panel, and complying with all relevant legislation and regulations".

It seems the government are handing the responsibility to food companies, the exact companies who want us to buy their products!

I'd be interested whether or not the Health Star Rating affects the products you buy?

I feel like this could be another campaign that might not be so successful…

For your info: http://healthstarrating.gov.au/internet/healthstarrating/pub…

Food & Grocery

Comments

badonde on 09/07/2015 - 20:12

+4

Well, I noticed it recently and assumed it was a government initiative…. but if Milo is 4.5/5 stars then it sounds totally worthless!
lemc6125 on 09/07/2015 - 21:26

From the very limited information I have (I haven't looked into it properly yet) I think it's a load of rubbish. It's the food manufacturers way of fighting back against all the (common sense) health advice that suggests limiting packaged foods and sugars.
c64 on 09/07/2015 - 23:29

definitely nothing healthy about milo. if what you say about 4.5 stars is right then the system is totally useless
[Deactivated] on 09/07/2015 - 23:43

OP, as you may already have guessed, the new ratings are an 'initiative' / arrangement, conceived to be a very intentionally palatable one, for industry.
It fills the void left after the scrapping of previous schemes and proposals, following much lobbying.
argonide on 09/07/2015 - 23:49

The Milo star also includes the milk used.
They've assumed you used 20 g of Milo in 200 mL of skim milk and you only drink 100 mL.
If you swap out the skim milk with reduced fat milk it's downgraded to 3 stars.
- [Deactivated] on 10/07/2015 - 08:02
  
  Wow. So I firstly have to get 20g of Milo, then 200mL of skim milk to mix it into, and at the end of everything only drink half of it?
  
  If those assumptions are indeed how this Health Star rating is derived, somebody out there is seriously deluded.
  - argonide on 10/07/2015 - 19:29
    
    I guess the problem with these kinds of initiatives is that it is very difficult to create a standard.
    In the case of the Health Star rating, the stars are based on the nutritional values of 100 g or 100 mL. The challenge is products such as Milo (20 g) or Vegemite (5 g) which have serving sizes less than 100 g and need to include preparation. Although this preparation may not typically be how the consumer uses this product, in the case of Milo using skim milk (<0.15% fat) where most people would use full cream (>3.2% fat) or lite milk (<1.5% fat).
    
    The other current initiative is the nutritional information bar on the front of products (example). These are based on serving sizes, however serving sizes are decided by the manufacturer and quite often they will reduce the serving size to make their products seem healthier as discussed on The Checkout. For example, Dominos say there is 8 servings in a pizza because there is 8 slices, however they acknowledge that people typically eat half a pizza.
- c64 on 11/07/2015 - 11:35
  
  so i guess a serving of straight table sugar, which can be added to milk, could also get a good health star rating.

Health Star Rating - Thoughts?

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