INDUSTRY NEWS Lead researcher Professor Cliona Ni Mhurchu says the results show that the HSR labelling system is driving healthier reformulation of some packaged food products. New Zealand and Australia adopted the voluntary HSR labelling system in 2014, which rates the nutrition content of packaged food in half-star increments from half a star (least healthy) to five stars (most healthy). “We wanted to evaluate the effects of the HSR on food composition in New Zealand, because these kinds of interpretive, front-of-pack nutrition labels may encourage healthier reformulation of packaged foods,” Ni Mhurchu says. Annual surveys undertaken by trained fieldworkers collected brand, barcode, nutrient, ingredient and front-of-pack labelling information for all packaged food and non-alcoholic beverage products in four large Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises supermarket stores in Auckland between February and April in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The research looked at the HSR uptake by food group; star ratings of products displaying a HSR label; nutritional composition of products displaying HSR compared with non-HSR products; and the composition of products displaying HSR labels in the three years of study: • In 2016, two years after adoption of the voluntary system, 5% of packaged food and beverage products surveyed (807 out of 15,357 products) displayed HSR labels – the highest rates for cereals, 22 SEPTEMBER 2017 convenience foods, packaged fruit and vegetables, sauces and spreads, and ‘other’ products (predominantly breakfast beverages). • Products displaying HSR labels had higher energy density but had significantly lower mean saturated fat, total sugar and sodium, and higher fibre contents than non-HSR products. • Approximately eight in 10 products (83%) displaying HSR graphics had been reformulated to some extent, and small but significant favourable changes were seen in mean energy, sodium and fibre contents, compared with composition of the same products prior to adoption of HSR. • HSR-labelled products had also been reformulated more than non-HSR-labelled products over the same period, for example energy reduction in HSR products was greater than in non-HSR products (1.5% versus 0.4%, and sodium content of HSR products decreased by 4.6% while that of non-HSR products increased by 3.1%. • In 2016, 84% of HSR-labelled products displayed star ratings of 3.0 to 5.0, and only 16% displayed ratings in the 0.5 to 2.5 star range. “While early indications of healthier product reformulation are promising, far greater uptake of the HSR system by industry, and adoption across the full breadth of the packaged food supply, are necessary for such reformulation to impact population diets in a healthful way,” Ni Mhurchu says. Food manufacturers are upping the ante when it comes to using the Health Star Ratings systems on food labels, Minister for Food Safety David Bennett says. In March this year, around 2700 packaged food products with HSR were available to New Zealand consumers, a significant increase on 807 this time last year. “The decision to work with industry to introduce the system voluntarily means costs are being kept down, both for producers and people buying the products,” he says. “This jump follows a large increase in consumer awareness and understanding of the system. A survey published by MPI shows that more than 60% of consumers are aware of Health Star Ratings, and about 50% of consumers have a correct understanding of how the system works.” The research was funded jointly by a programme grant from the Health Research Council NZ and the Ministry for Primary Industries. RATING ENCOURAGES FOOD MANUFACTURERS TO REFORMULATE New Zealand’s voluntary Health Star Rating is encouraging manufacturers to create healthier foods, surveys conducted by University of Auckland academics of more than 44,000 New Zealand supermarket products over a three-year period have shown. Health Star Ratings are an independent rating system developed by the New Zealand and Australian governments in collaboration with public health experts, the food industry and consumer groups. Packaged foods are given a number of stars based on their nutrients, ingredients and the amount of energy (kilojoules) they provide, so consumers can compare similar products to see which is healthier.
FT-sep17-eMag1
To see the actual publication please follow the link above