The Health Star Rating system is in the hot seat … again.

The voluntary Health Star Rating (HSR) system is meant to make it easy for consumers to judge which foods are healthy, and which are not.

Instead of sending themselves blind trying to read small-print ingredients lists, they’re encouraged to trust, for example, the prominent five stars awarded to a loaf of Bergen’s soy and linseed bread … and also to Atkins Smooth Chocolate Low Carb Protein Shake.

Are these two products equally healthy?

The stars are awarded on the basis of the nutrients – what we might call the old-fashioned food components of food, such as proteins, fats, sugars and carbs.

The algorithm used to assign foods their star rating – from half a star for unhealthy, to five stars for top shelf – gives a protein shake a thumbs up for the protein and the low sugar content.

What’s not shared with consumers

What isn’t disclosed to consumers are the processing techniques used by food manufacturers: The chemistry involved on making these foods so palatable, and long-lived in the larder.

Berri Quelch 99% Fruit Juice Icy Tubes – 5 stars!

Streets Blue Ribbon Vanilla Bean Reduced Fat Ice Cream – 4.5 stars!

In February, a review from the British Medical Journal found that ultra-processed food is directly linked to 32 harmful effects to health, including a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, adverse mental health and early death.

So how prevalent are these foods?

Research published in 2020 from Deakin University, found three-quarters of ultra-processed food and more than half of discretionary food products displayed a Health Star Rating of 2.5 stars or more.

Lead researcher Sarah Dickie said the results showed that consumers were not always getting meaningful nutritional advice. She said this threatened to undermine public trust in the system.

“The Health Star Rating on the front label of food packaging is the most prominent nutrition policy in Australia,” Dickie said.

“The simple message that more stars equals healthier food is widely understood by the public,” she said.

“But our research shows the stars don’t always match dietary guidelines.”

She said an effective “front-of-pack health label should be discouraging junk foods, not promoting them”.

The fundamental problem

Dr Priscila Machado is a research fellow at Deakin University.

She told The Guardian that industrial food-processing techniques created new chemical compounds and structures that could harm health.

These processes “destroyed the natural food structure … which was crucial for nutritional quality”.

She said that ultra-processing techniques, “for example high temperatures, create contaminants that can mess up our hormones”.

Dr Machado told The New Daily: “The health star ratings system is based on fundamentals of nutrition and is outdated. Because it’s not looking at food as a whole.”

She said that food processing isn’t part of the healthy star calculations. And it needed to be.

Good foods given poor ratings

The Health Star Rating (HSR) system is forever playing catch-up and does make an effort in solving problems.

Back in 2016, parents were complaining about advice that made no sense. Some products were heavy in sugar, such as fruit juices, and yet awarded 5 stars. A strawberry flavoured milk had 4.5 stars.

Weirdly, smoked salmon only scored 2 stars (because of the omega-rich saturated fat and sodium) while Coles brand Greek-style yoghurt was given 1.5 stars (saturated fat).

Since then, the Heart Foundation’s policy on saturated fats in dairy foods has swung about. The restrictions for healthy Australians on eating full-fat milk, cheese and yoghurt was gone.

These foods didn’t increase or decrease your risks for heart disease or stroke. And the fatty acids are also now acknowledged to have health benefits.

Among a number of sensible recommendations, the HSR was advised to increase the HSRs of dairy foods, such as cheeses and yoghurts.

It was also advised to decrease the HSRs of some dairy desserts and other chilled dairy products.

What the government is looking at

Analysis from the George Institute found only 36 per cent “of products on supermarket shelves that should carry the HSR currently do”.

This fell well short of the government’s 50 per cent uptake target for 2023.

This week the state, federal and territory ministers for food and health gathered for a sit-down.

This prompted experts in public health and good politics to call for the ultra-processed foods industry to be regulated.

Assistant minister for health, Ged Kearney, who chaired the meeting, didn’t go there.

She told the Guardian: “I’ve been clear about my disappointment that industry has not met uptake targets for health star ratings and the need to consider mandating the system if final uptake targets are not met.

“I’ll be discussing this, and other options for holistic reforms to food labelling … Watch this space.”