If you're health-conscious, you probably pay close attention to the food you or if a parent, your family eats. You might even go the extra mile and check the Health Star Ratings (HSR) on products before you buy them. But what do those ratings mean, and how can you decipher them? Keep reading to find out.
Health Star Ratings are a government-led initiative that allows customers to see at a glance how healthy a packaged food is. It is a voluntary scheme that rates the overall nutritional profile of packaged foods and assigns them a star rating from ½ to 5 stars.
The Health Star Rating The rating is calculated using an algorithm that looks at factors such as energy, saturated fat, sodium/salt, sugars, protein, and fiber content.
Products with a higher star rating are generally healthier choices when compared to products with a lower star rating. For example, a breakfast cereal that has a health star rating of 3 stars is a healthier choice than one with a 2-star rating.
The HSR can be found on the front of eligible packaged food products in Australia. It's usually located near the nutrition information panel. Here's a quick guide to what the different ratings mean:
- ½ star: not recommended
- 1 star: not recommended
- 1½ stars: choose occasionally
- 2 stars: choose occasionally
- 2½ stars: choose most often
- 3 stars: choose most often
- 3½ stars: choose most often
- 4 stars: choose most often
- 4½ stars: choose always
- 5 stars: choose always
From this guide, we can see that the healthiest choices are those rated 4½ or 5 stars, while products rated ½ or 1 star are not recommended.
So now that you know what the Health Star Rating means and how to use it, you may be surprised to see our range of hard lollies and lollipops from the Dr. John’s Healthy Sweets range sport 5 Stars! The products tick all the boxes re no sodium, saturated fat, and sugars, and with the added benefit of fibre, this takes it to a 5 Star! Doesn’t get any better than this!
If you’d like to see these products at your local kids activity centre, cafe or in your child’s canteen, be sure to let us know who we could reach out to, to make this a reality. Email us at help@healthylollies.com.au or flick us a txt on 0450684468.
In conclusion, when in doubt, aim for products with higher star ratings. And remember, while the HSR can be helpful, it's just one tool you can use to make healthy choices for you and your family.