The healthy food star-rating system should be extended to fast food to give consumers more information about their nutritional value, according to a leading research institute on public health.
The NSW government is reviewing the regulations that control the safety of the state’s food industries.
The University of Sydney’s George Institute for Global Health has told the review it should also beef up the menu labelling requirements for fast food outlets.
Since fast food restaurants were required to advertise their kilojoules, there has been a 15 per cent reduction in the value of kilojoules purchased, according to an evaluation by the NSW Food Authority.
But George Institute project officer Alexandra Jones said the healthy food star rating system was easier to understand.
“The average reduction of 15 per cent of kilojoules probably means people still don’t understand what kilojoules are and that people are really more familiar with things like fat and sugar and they want that information.
“Healthy stars are a really simple way for people to know if the food they are eating is healthy and a way to compare similar foods.”