At the end of last year the Department of Health introduced a new food labeling initiative called the Health Star Rating System to help us make better, healthier choices about our food.

The Health Star Rating System ranges from ½ a star, to five stars depending on a foods nutritional content.  The number of health stars in the rating is based on 100gms or 100 mls of a product to allow similar products to be compared at a glance. 

The Health Star Rating System takes into account four aspects of food:

1.     Energy – kilojoules
2.     Saturated fat
3.     Total sugars
4.     Sodium (salt) content.

The products that are low in the above items will generally have a higher five star rating. The healthier the foods, the higher the stars.

The Health Star Rating System is voluntary for industry to adopt over the next five years, so you will still need to keep an eye on the nutrient information panel to help ensure you choose the best products.

To help with this, we’ve developed the below Food Label Reader.  To download, simply click on the link below.  Or, if you would like some hard copies sent out to your workplace, email marketing@sonichealthplus.com.au and we’ll organise for some to be delivered, free of charge!

For more information regarding the Five Star Rating System, visit http://www.healthstarrating.gov.au.