Food ministers are taking a significant step towards mandating Health Star Ratings on packaged food, which could lead to a major shift on supermarket shelves. The nation's food ministers will meet this week to progress a plan that aims to make nutrition labels compulsory for all packaged food products. The federal government and five other states or territories have indicated their support for this initiative, voting in favor of asking the food regulator to develop a formal proposal. This proposal will outline how to mandate the Health Star Rating system, with a final decision expected in approximately 12 months. The Health Star Rating scheme is designed to provide a quick and easy guide to the health and nutritional content of food products, with a scoring system out of five stars based on sugar, salt, and saturated fat content. However, the effectiveness of this system is a topic of debate. Some public health experts argue that the algorithm underpinning the rating scores needs to be revised to reflect whether a product is 'ultra-processed', which contains high levels of industrially-formulated ingredients. These experts claim that food companies can exploit loopholes in the current system to boost the nutritional ratings of their products, even if they are high in sugar. A recent global study series published in the Lancet Medical Journal highlighted the rise of ultra-processed foods in diets as an urgent public health threat, linking these products to an increased risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and other chronic diseases. The study also found that ultra-processed foods make up around 42% of the average Australian diet, which is one of the highest levels in the world. In response to these concerns, the Australian Food and Grocery Council's Dr. Duncan Craig argues that food processing ensures food safety, affordability, and accessibility for consumers. He emphasizes that classifying foods based solely on their level of processing does not accurately reflect their nutritional quality, and that Australia's rigorous food regulatory system ensures food safety. The Department of Health, Disability, and Ageing's spokesperson confirms that Health Star Ratings are calculated based on positive and negative nutrients in foods, and that ultra-processed foods, which are generally high in energy, sodium, saturated fat, and sugar, usually receive low ratings. However, Associate Professor Alexandra Jones from the George Institute for Global Health suggests that including markers of ultra-processing in the scoring system could close current loopholes. An expert panel at the National Health and Medical Research Council is reviewing the latest evidence on the health impacts of ultra-processed foods, which will inform the upcoming revision of the Australian Dietary Guidelines, marking the first update in 13 years.
