• Home
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Write for Australian Women Online
  • Advertise With Us
  • Horoscopes
  • Style
  • Shoe Boutique
  • eFashion
  • Weight Watchers Australia

Australian Women Online

Business, career, health and lifestyle content for women

  • Home
  • BLOG
  • BOOKS
  • BUSINESS
  • CAREER
  • COOKING
  • HEALTH
  • LIFESTYLE
    • Automotive
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Pets
    • Relationships
    • Your Home
    • Your Money
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • TRAVEL
    • Discount Holidays
You are here: Home / HEALTH / Troubled Health Star Rating website relaunched but there’s no need to rush right over there

Troubled Health Star Rating website relaunched but there’s no need to rush right over there

7 December 2014 by Deborah Robinson

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp

Source: http://www.healthstarrating.gov.au

Source: http://www.healthstarrating.gov.au

Ten months after pulling it off the internet, the Australian Government’s Health Star Rating (HSR) website was officially relaunched on Saturday 6 December by the Assistant Minister for Health, Senator Fiona Nash. However, with only a small number of products carrying the new labelling, and no database of products to search, there’s really not much for consumers to do on the HSR website.

Who could forget that day back in February 2014 when Senator Nash and her former Chief of Staff, Alastair Furnival, had the original HSR website pulled down just 8 hours after launch and the storm of controversy that created? While Senator Nash maintained the original website was pulled down because the HSR system wasn’t ready, the media suspected a more sinister motive. It was alleged Mr Furnival still had close ties to the food manufacturing industry he once worked for as a lobbyist.

Obviously, there was no mention of the website’s controversial beginnings on Saturday, when Senator Nash officially launched the HSR system at the Woden Plaza shopping centre in Canberra.

“The HSR system will make it much easier for shoppers to make informed choices about healthier food options,” Minister Nash said. “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.”

“The HSR system takes into account the four aspects of food – energy; saturated fat; total sugars; and sodium content,” the Minister explained. “Products that are low in saturated fat, sugars, sodium and/or energy will generally have a higher star rating. The healthier the food, the higher the stars.”

While health advocates welcomed the introduction of the HSR system yesterday, the potential for more controversy remains with food manufacturers under no obligation to participate in the voluntary scheme.

An example of HSR system food labelling. Source: http://www.healthstarrating.gov.au

An example of HSR system food labelling. Source: http://www.healthstarrating.gov.au

Being a voluntary scheme, food manufacturers in Australia have been slow to introduce HSR labelling on their packaging.

While some of the major food manufacturers have indicted that they will be printing Health Star Ratings on their packaging in the future, to date, there are only a very limited number of products available in supermarkets with a Health Star Rating printed on the label.

With the HSR system predicted to hurt junk food manufacturers the most, it will come as no surprise that the very first company to use the new HSR system on labelling, was a health food manufacturer. The Monster Health Food Co. rolled out the first HSR labelled product way back in April 2014.

So what can Australian consumers expect from the relaunched website? Not much really.

While you can certainly find out more information about the Health Star Rating system, there’s no database of HSR labelled products to search, or even a list of companies who are participating in the scheme. To find this information, consumers will have to do their own research, or use an alternative.

One alternative is the George Institute’s FoodSwitch STARS website, which features a searchable database of 55,000 supermarket food products, each one given a health star rating out of 5.

You’ll find the Government’s official Health Star Rating website at: www.healthstarrating.gov.au

You May Also Like:

Filed Under: HEALTH, Uncategorized

Ads by Google
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

New Content

  • Safe and Fast: Payment Methods Used by Aussie Online Casino Players
  • Shade Without the Struggle: The Pergola That Makes Sense
  • Creating a Supportive Work Environment with Mental Health and Wellbeing Services
  • 10 Questions You Should Ask to Find the Right Pop-up Camper for You
  • Kangaroo Island Volunteers Pursue Ambitious Dream to Recreate Historic 19th Century Sailing Ship
  • What’s the Average Expected Lifespan for Semi-Trucks
  • The best strategies you can use with roulette
  • Essential Tasks To Consider When Building a New Office and Hiring Employees
  • 6 Trends That Are Shaking Up the Digital Marketing Landscape in 2025
  • The Ultimate Checklist for Pre-Sale Home Improvements

Popular Content

  • Moore Weekly Stars
  • Women Who Have Become Gambling Legends
  • Kangaroo Island Volunteers Pursue Ambitious Dream to Recreate Historic 19th Century Sailing Ship
  • About
  • Sexy and Stylish Short Hairstyles for Women Over 60
  • Write for Australian Women Online
  • Zimmermann Honour Strapless Floral Print Jumpsuit
  • Professor Michael Dodson named Australian of the Year 2009
  • Women in Politics: Bridget McKenzie, National Party Senator for Victoria
  • 6 Creative Window Decal Ideas to Boost Foot Traffic to Your Store

Australian Women Online © Copyright 2007 - 2025 Deborah Robinson ABN 38 119 171 979 · All Rights Reserved