Friday 9 September 2016 2:04pm
EDOR members have recently commented on the Health Star Rating system for packaged foods.
The Health Star Rating system is a voluntary system developed in collaboration with the government, the food industry, public health and consumer groups, that assesses the overall nutrition of a packaged food. Positive nutrients, such as fibre and protein, are offset against less desirable nutrients such as sugar. However, under the current system, some high-sugar products can still get a high star rating.
Consumer NZ is recommending changes to the star rating system to make it easier to identify foods that are high in sugar, saturated fat or sodium.
Professor Barry Taylor, EDOR member and Paediatrician, welcomes this proposed change. "The star rating would be a useful way to identify high sugar content and go towards managing childhood obesity" says Professor Taylor.
Dr Lisa Te Morenga, EDOR member in the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Otago, says that while improvements can be made to the health star rating system, it is fulfilling an important purpose. Even though we aspire to eat fresh food most of the time, says Dr Te Morenga, packaged foods do form a part of our busy lifestyles. A health star rating system can assist us in making quick decisions about the best option from a range of similar-looking products.
"The Health Stars can help us make better choices when we do choose packaged foods."
Read the recent articles on Health Star Ratings
- Health Star Ratings, Consumer NZ, 8 September, 2016 (subscriber-access only)
- Consumer NZ to recommend changes to star rating system, Stuff website, 11 September, 2016
- Do we need Health Star Ratings? An expert's perspective, Stuff website, 2 September, 2016
