nosh magazine
HOW TO USE
THE NEW
HEALTH STAR
RATINGS
With the recent launch of the Health Star Ratings,
Accredited Practising Dietitian Kara Landau urges
consumers to continue to take responsibility for
making educated snack choices.
he recently launched Health Star Ratings confirm that snacks are not
created equally, so can help people make informed food choices by
providing an at-a-glance guide. However, they are not a substitute for good
nutritional advice and common sense.
T
Latest government statistics show that about a third (35 per cent) of Australians’ total
daily energy intake comes from ‘discretionary foods’ with little nutritional value*. For
example, some nutritionally poor foods like potato chips, may also score as high as
four stars. This is because these particular products may not be excessively high in
“bad for you” nutrients like saturated fat, sugar and salt; but it doesn’t mean they are
necessarily good for you. The absence of bad is not necessarily the presence of good.
My concern is that people may use the stars to justify eating empty kilojoules in
favour of core foods like fruit, vegetables, nuts and seafood.
Championing nuts
as a great example of a nutritionally
wise snack-choice, Kara says: “It’s no
surprise that roasted unsalted
pistachios score five stars, and even
roasted salted nuts score well, at four
and a half stars, due to their
nutritional qualities. Pistachios are
one of the lowest kilojoule nuts – a
30g serve of pistachios is around 49
nuts, which is more nuts per serve
than any other snack nut.”
For more nutritional information on
pistachios visit
www.pistachiolife.com.au
As such, here are four top tips to help you use the Health Star Ratings for
shopping and eating more mindfully:
1
The devil (and angel) is in the details: What’s great about
the new system is it doesn’t just highlight the overall rating,
but also allows the manufacturer to highlight positive
nutritional attributes such as fibre and protein on the front
of packaging. Keep an eye out to ensure what you’re eating
is not just better for you, but packing a nutritional punch.
2
Use common sense: A 30g serving of nuts is featured in the
revised Australian Dietary Guidelines as a nutritious food
group to incorporate within a varied diet. But a good star rating
does not override good dietary balance. The Mediterranean
way of eating is a great balanced approach, which encourages
food choices heavy on fruits, vegetables, olive oil, nuts, fish,
beans with limited dairy, red meat and red wine.
3
Keep in mind portion control: The Health Star Ratings
offer front-of-pack data to make it simple to compare
foods at the 100g or millilitre level, but remember you
aren’t always likely to eat that much (e.g. pistachios) or
that little (e.g. a smoothie serving can be two to six times
that much).
4
Look beyond the simple stars: Remember the stars
measure key components, but they also don’t take into
account additional factors like antioxidants, vitamins and
minerals (except salt) or food additives. Foods contain
many components we don’t yet fully understand, which is
why a food-first approach is best. N
*Source: Aus