Health star ratings on packaging: Federal Government releases communique on food labelling

The current health star rating on processed and packaged foods will remain the same, despite calls from consumer advocates to update the classifications.

Mixed bag: Despite their questionable nutritional value, these products all have a high health star rating. Picture: Nathan Edwards

GIVING yoghurt a fighting chance against sweetened desserts in the supermarket fridge is one of the aims of a review of the health star rating system on food packaging.

State and federal ministers from Australia and New Zealand agreed to keep the star rating system voluntary last week.

Consumer advocates had called for the cross-Tasman classification system to be made mandatory on all processed and packaged foods.

However, ministers decided to keep the scheme voluntary, a move backed by Dairy Australia and the Australian Food and Grocery Council.

Dairy Australia health and nutrition policy manager Melissa Cameron said the current system of ratings within some categories, rather than absolute ratings, had led to anomalies.

She said some dairy products had been disadvantaged, such as yoghurt being hit with a lower rating than dairy desserts.

“All types of cheese are classified as ‘five food group’ foods under the Australian Dietary Guidelines classification,” Ms Cameron said.

“However, almost half of cheese still scores less than three stars, with most of these your everyday cheddar and tasty cheese products despite their established health benefits. This demonstrates that the current algorithm used is not in line with the Australian Dietary Guidelines.”

Meanwhile, concerns over the use of phrases such as “milk”, “sausages” and other meat labels for plant-based produce was canvassed.

Ministers called for the Food Regulation Standing Committee to consider developing a policy guideline to differentiate ‘‘synthetic’’ animal products from their natural equivalents.