Health Star Rating System, Rationale

2nd December 2013

Dr Geoff Drewer

Senior Scientist Corporate Regulatory

Introduction

• Public health background

– Lifestyle diseases, myriad of causes

– Existing initiatives, international schemes, government input

– FOPL, one piece of the puzzle

• The FOPL continuum

– From data to interpretation

– Key nutritional drivers

– Scaling the food supply

• FOPL Design information & interpretation

• FOPL politics

• Conclusions

Public Health Background– (life style factors)

Disease

CHD

Diabetes

Stroke

Cancers

Injury

STDs

PCOS

Infertility

COPD

Gallstones

Proximal

Causes

Smoking

Diet

Inactivity

Unsafe sex

Obesity

Sun expos

Alcohol/

Drugs

Pollution

Risk

Factor

Markers

BP

Lipids

-Apos

-Tg

-LDL-C

-HDL-C

High FPG

IGT

CRP

HBA1C

Medial

Causes

Stress

Anxiety

Depression

Social/Peer

pressure

Psych

factors

Occupation

Boredom

Technology

Change

Genetics

Distal

Causes

Industrialism.

‘Modernity’

Economic

Growth

International schemes

• International

approaches

– Multiple Traffic

Light Systems

– Ticks & rating

systems

US

UK

Singapore Nordic

Countries

Au/NZ

etc.

Government input

• Forum on Food

Regulation

– Extended view of

food safety to

include public

health.

– Supports

Interpretive FOPL.

– Design to be

determined via

collaboration &

evidence.

FOPL – one piece of the puzzle

Reduce

Stress

Nutritional

Literacy

Balanced

Energy

Intake

Limit Saturated

& trans Fats

Limit

Alcohol

FOPL No

Smoking

Optimum

Activity/

Exercise

Adequate

Sleep

Ideal Omega

3 to 6

Ratio

Fruits &

Vegetables

The FOPL continuum

• Data FOPL

– NIP

– %DIG

– Modified DIG

The FOPL continuum

• Interpretive FOPL

– Traffic lights

– Multiple traffic lights

– Healthy eating system

– Endorsements

• Thresholds between

colours can be too

coarse.

• Availability &

complexity vs.

accessibility

Nutritional Drivers-.

• Health Star Rating

– Data &

Interpretation

• NPSC Based

– Risk associated

nutrients

– Health associated

nutrients

– Health associated

foods

Spanning & Scaling the food supply–

• NPSC was only designed to determine HC eligibility!

• NPSC extensions, A points (Category 1 & 2 foods)

– Energy did not need extension

– Sugars could be linearly extended

Spanning & Scaling the food supply–

• NPSC extensions, C points (Category 1 & 2 foods)

• FVNL points interpolated between existing NPSC point

allocations

Spanning & Scaling the food supply–

• Star Rating principles

– Scale based on 1000’s of foods supplied by industry

along with foods on the FSANZ database.

– Scale considers key groups in the AGHE along with

what NPSC category the food belongs to.

• Most foods compared on one food scale.

• Most beverages compared on one beverage scale.

• Core dairy compared on appropriate category scales.

• Fats and oils compared on fat & oil scale.

– Star rating of core foods recommended for “daily

intake” in AGHE typically 3 stars or above.

FOPL Design – interpretation & data.

• ‘Interpretive’ elements

– Slider & value.

– Star bar 0.5 to 5 stars.

– Optional ‘high’ or ‘low’

descriptors based on

content claims allowed

in standard 1.2.7.

• Data elements

– Values for; saturated

fat, sodium, sugars.

– Option of one positive

nutrient e.g. fibre.

– Energy icon.

– Generally on per 100g

basis

FOPL Design – politics.

• Health star rating will always be on per 100g (ml) basis.

• Values will need to be ‘interpreted’ by the consumer as well.

• International FOPL tends to use %DI and is part of ANZFSC

• Quantitative consumer research should guide the information elements.

Conclusions

• The Health Star Rating system has been developed to provide

interpretive context to nutritional information.

• The Health Star Rating system is driven by commonly available

ingredient and nutritional information.

• The Health Star Rating system put foods on a scale, rather than

trying to box foods into ‘good’ & ‘bad’ categories

• The Health Star Rating system is currently being tested &

critiqued. Therefore the final design should be able to reflect this

feedback

• Consumer education will be a key requirement regardless of the

final design.