Food Ministers Push for Mandatory Nutrition Labels on All Packaged Food Products

Australia’s food ministers are expected to take a step closer to making nutrition labels, specifically the Health Star Rating System, mandatory for all packaged food products in the country.

Australia’s Food Ministers Push for Mandatory Nutrition Labels

According to a report by ABC News, the federal government, as well as five other states or territories, have said that they will be in favour of asking the food regulator to develop a formal proposal on how to mandate the Health Star Rating System.

A final decision will be made in around 12 months.

Federal Assistant Health Minister Rebecca White has claimed that the food industry did not meet its target of voluntarily applying the Health Star Rating labels to 70 per cent of packaged food and drink products. The target deadline was November 2025.

“What the data shows is we’ve only reached about 37 per cent take-up here in Australia,” said White. “That is well below what is expected.”

What Is the Health Star Rating System?

The Health Star Ratings are used to gauge the nutritional profile of packaged food. According to its official website, ratings range from 1/2 to five stars.

This means that the more stars you see on the packaging of the food item, the healthier it is.

Food manufacturers themselves are tasked with calculating the Health Star Rating for each product. The rating should then be displayed on the front packaging of food items.

The number of stars is usually based on the following:

• Total energy (kilojoules)
• Saturated fat, sodium (salt) and sugar content
• Fibre, protein, fruit, vegetable, nut and legume content