Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash has launched has re-launched the Health Star Rating website. Photo: Peter Rae
Assistant Minister for Health Fiona Nash has launched a system for rating the nutritional value of foods, almost ten months after shutting down a website which promoted an earlier version of the scheme.
Senator Nash’s then chief of staff, Alastair Furnival was forced to resign in February after Fairfax Media revealed he was the co-owner of a lobbying firm which had represented junk food clients.
On Saturday Senator Nash appeared beside public health advocates at a Canberra shopping centre to launch a new website and education campaign for the rating system, which has been developed by federal, state and territory governments in cooperation with health groups and the food industry.
The Health Star Rating System website.
Senator Nash said the rating system would make it easier for shoppers to make informed choices about healthier food options.
“The five star ratings clearly displayed on packaged foods will allow consumers, especially parents, to make healthy food choices for the whole family without spending hours reading labels at the supermarket,” she said.
The system takes into account the amount of energy, saturated fat, sugar and sodium in products and assigns them a score of between half a star and five starts.
An earlier version of the the Health Star Rating website before it was shut down. Photo: Supplied
The healthier the food, the higher the number of stars it will receive.
Eleven companies have signed up to the voluntary system so far, and 7 have already included the star ratings on their products. Sanitarium, SPC and Coles are among the brands which are already displaying star ratings on their products.
Senator Nash has dropped the threat by the former Labor government to make the scheme mandatory if there is insufficient voluntary takeup by manufacturers.
“The [Health Star Rating System] is voluntary for industry to adopt over the next five years, as agreed by the Australian and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation in June 2014,” she said.
“This will enable cost effective implementation, and provide time for manufacturers to work on reformulation – to include less saturated fats, sugars or sodium in their products.”
Appearing beside Senator Nash, Public Health Association chief executive Michael Moore said the launch of the scheme represented “a great day for consumers and families”.
“We thank Minister Nash for her determined work to make this a reality,” Mr Moore said.
The chief executive of the National Heart Foundation, Mary Barry, who also joined Senator Nash at the launch, congratulated the Minister for delivering the scheme, which she said would encourage companies to reformulate their products to make them healthier.