Health star ratings hit another snag

THE government’s controversial health star ratings system has been dealt another blow, with a new study revealing exactly what shoppers think.

THE government’s troubled health star ratings system has been dealt another blow, with a new study revealing consumers welcome the extra advice — but they’re unlikely to take it.

A survey of 3000 adults by consumer research company Canstar Blue found less than half (48 per cent) of respondents say the ratings have had, or will have, an impact on their purchasing decisions.

That’s despite a large majority (78 per cent) agreeing all food companies should carry the ratings. Just over two-thirds (68 per cent) find it confusing that seemingly unhealthy foods carry high ratings and vice versa.

Sixty per cent, however, said they found the ratings helpful in understanding what foods are good for them. Young Australians (aged 18 to 29) are the least likely to pay any attention to the ratings or factor them into their purchasing decisions.

Canstar Blue head Megan Doyle said the system “seems to have been met with apathy by some”.

“We support any system that helps consumers make better decisions, particularly when it comes to their health, so it’s disappointing to find the majority of Australians are not making these ratings a part of their purchase decision,” she said.

Mrs Doyle said if consumers were presented with two like-for-like products, it made sense to allow health ratings to become an important factor.

“However, for families on a tight budget, the price of food will probably dictate which products they put in their shopping basket. A marginal difference in the ratings seems unlikely to change that,” she said.

“The trend from our results is that younger people are going to be the hardest to influence — which is not what the Government would like to hear in its bid to curb Australia’s obesity crisis.”

Health Star Yum Yum.

More than 1000 products sold in Australia now carry the ratings, including most private label goods from Coles and Woolworths.

Other companies using the system include Kellogg’s, Sanitarium, Nestle, Heinz, Fonterra, Simplot, Vitality, Mars, Lion, Betta Foods, Monster Health Food Company, Food for Health, Freedom Foods, Vetta, Parker’s Organic, Yummia, Campbell’s, Arnotts and Unilever.

The government has spent nearly $280,000 on ongoing market research into the health star ratings system, and $2.1 million on a public awareness campaign.

Despite the marketing effort, there appears to still be much confusion around the system. Crucially, that the ratings are designed to compare between to similar products in the same category.

“In the case of the [two star] yoghurt, the message is simply that the product is less healthy compared to other yoghurts, while the four-star rated frozen chips are simply a healthier version of other frozen chips,” said Canstar Blue.

Last year, food blogger James Morrow panned the star ratings as “big brother meddling in your fridge and trolley”.

“To the advocates of websites and labels and other systems to save us from ourselves, most Australians waddle through life as victims of a giant con job, too gulled by the siren song of advertising to steer their trolleys through the fresh produce aisle,” he wrote in The Daily Telegraph.

A spokesperson for Assistant Minister for Health Fiona Nash said: “The findings of the Canstar Blue survey are overall very good, with 78 per cent of shoppers agreeing that food companies should show health ratings on their food.

“The HSR system gives people the tools to make healthier choices, but cannot force people to eat certain foods. What a person eats is their individual choice. Consumers often choose foods for reasons other than health, such as taste, texture, price and country of origin, and government cannot force them to do otherwise.”

[e-mail]