Strong uptake of Health Star Ratings continues

Food Safety Minister Jo Goodhew welcomes the latest figures showing more than 600 products with Health Star Ratings are on supermarket shelves.

“Over half the products on shelves with the Health Star Rating labels are supermarket own brand products, which shows strong support from both manufacturers and retailers for this labelling system,” says Mrs Goodhew.

“This initiative is one of the ways we are working with the food industry to improve food labelling and make healthy choices easier for consumers.

“Our two major supermarket owners, Foodstuffs and Progressives, are beginning to display the ratings on their bulk food bins, and over 500 of their own brand products will be carrying the ratings by the end of the year.

“Earlier this month members of the New Zealand Beverage Council agreed to phase in the rating system as they update their labels. This will impact on more than 95 per cent of all juice and non-alcoholic beverages sold in New Zealand.

“The food industry has an important role to play in the government’s plan to reduce childhood obesity. As a result of this rating system businesses are looking more carefully at their recipes to see where there is room to reformulate and improve the nutritional content.”  

The Health Star Rating system is a voluntary labelling system using a star rating scale of ½ to 5 stars to help people choose the healthiest item when comparing similar packaged foods, such as breakfast cereals. The system is not designed to compare items across different product ranges, for example breakfast cereals and yoghurt.

For further information about the Health Star Rating system can be found on the Food Smart website, and information about the Childhood Obesity Plan can be found at www.health.govt.nz