One in two Australians don’t know if they’re buying healthy food

Growing up in the 1980s when the term “ultra-processed food” first emerged, navigating healthy from unhealthy foods seemed easy. And when you chose to eat unhealthy foods, you knew what you were getting.

Today, we’re confused by design.

According to a new survey by VicHealth, one in two Australians struggle to determine which products are healthy, and three in five don’t know who to trust for nutrition advice. Erin MacLatchy is among them.

MacLatchy’s 16-year-old daughter Isla trains up to 10 hours a week for AFL, so she is conscious about fuelling her well – including with snacks between main meals.

Erin MacLatchy wants to offer a healthy diet to her athlete daughter Isla, but finds the labelling confusing. Credit: Chris Hopkins

“If you buy a packet of lollies or chips on the odd occasion, you know it’s not healthy,” says the Melbourne-based mum of two.

The issue, she says, is trying to choose between muesli bars, protein balls, crackers, dips, cheese and yoghurts.

“There are so many options and if you go by the packaging and the way the food is presented, it looks like they’re healthy,” says MacLatchy.

Jane Martin, the executive manager of the Food for Health Alliance, says there are many ways food companies undermine our ability to understand the healthiness of a product, from questionable health claims on packaging to marketing disguised as health information.

Health claims, like “low sugar”, “no artificial colours or flavours” and “natural”, are added to otherwise unhealthy products, while pictures of whole foods appear on products which contain minimal or no whole foods.

Social media and misinformation online don’t help.

“There’s so much noise disrupting our ability to make healthy choices,” says Martin. “It’s designed to do that.”

At least 64 per cent of products at your typical supermarket are ultra-processed, meaning they are processed using industrial ingredients you wouldn’t find in your kitchen, like emulsifiers, colours, artificial sweeteners, protein isolates and flavour enhancers.

Around 56.4 per cent of total energy we purchase at the supermarket comes from ultra-processed foods. And it’s not just biscuits and lollies and treat-like snacks. It’s often the breads, soups, yoghurts, cereals, crackers, protein balls, muesli bars, sauces, dressing, infant formula and other foods we may consider healthy.

Yet, the ultra-processed versions of these foods are not good for us. According to a review published in 2024, there is “convincing evidence” that ultra-processed foods are linked with cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and premature mortality.

Despite this, consumption of snack foods has grown by 10 per cent per person between 2019 and 2023.

To combat the confusion and help people to make healthier choices, VicHealth is calling for mandatory Health Star Ratings (HSR) on packaged supermarket foods, says executive manager, Michelle Murray.

“Stars are an easy way to understand what’s healthy and what’s not when comparing products,” says Murray. “It’s been 10 years since the system was introduced and food companies are still dragging their feet.”

Only 36 per cent of products carry the voluntary HSR, falling short of the government’s 60 per cent target.

Yoghurts, cereals, crackers and muesli bars can be some of the most confusing foods to shop for.Credit: iStock

“That’s why now we think it’s time to make the [HSR] mandatory,” says Murray. “Australians deserve clear and accessible info to help them make healthier decisions.”

Three-quarters of those surveyed said they found HSR helped them make better choices.

“You want to choose something healthy, but it’s hard to know if you are because… it’s more subjective on the packaging compared to if you had something more objective like a rating,” agrees MacLatchy.

Though Murray says the stars “do get it right most of the time”, it’s an imperfect system.

HSR are based on the amounts of nutrients – fat, carbs, sugar, salt, fibre or protein – a product contains. This means food manufacturers can game the system by adding fibre, for instance, to make a product appear healthier than it is and be awarded more stars. Alternatively, a product that is naturally high in fat but containing all-natural ingredients may get fewer stars than an ultra-processed one that is low in fat.

The system does not consider the level of processing, nor whether a product contains additives.

“A sole focus on nutrients without considering foods as a whole or their level of processing may result in unintended consequences,” says Dr Priscila Machado, a research fellow at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Deakin University.

She cites research from her team which found that 75 per cent of new ultra-processed foods introduced into the Australian market between 2014 and 2019 received an HSR of 2.5 stars or higher.

“This may inadvertently allow ultra-processed foods to be advertised as ‘healthy’,” says Machado. “An effective front-of-pack label should discourage unhealthy foods rather than promote them.”

Star ratings are not enough on their own, Machado argues.

Countries such as Chile and Mexico have warning labels (black and white stop signs) on packaged foods to help identify ultra-processed foods. Otherwise, it’s up to consumers to read the ingredients list and, where possible, steer clear of those with names we don’t recognise or use at home.

“We also need to continue pressuring governments to take action to improve our food environments,” Machado says. “This includes ensuring that ultra-processed food corporations do not dominate our food systems and making whole foods more accessible and affordable.”

On this point, there is no argument among experts.

“It’s important we have a trustworthy source of information around public health and diet,” says Martin. “The government is well-placed to do that. At the moment, we’re leaving the industry to decide.”

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