Health Star Rating

What is the Health Star Rating and how can I use it?

The Health Star Rating is a voluntary labelling system that food manufacturers like Heinz® may choose to display on the front of their product’s packaging, to help consumers quickly compare the nutrition of similar packaged foods and make healthier choices.

The Health Star Rating system rates the overall nutritional profile of packaged foods using a strict calculation and assigns a rating from ½ a star to 5 stars.

The more stars, the healthier the product is compared to other similar packaged products.

The independent Health Star Rating system was developed in 2014 by the Australian and New Zealand Governments in collaboration with public health experts, the food industry and consumer groups.

How is the Health Star Rating calculated?

The Health Star Rating is calculated by food manufacturers using the official Health Star Rating Calculator. The calculator assesses negative and positive nutrients in packaged foods per 100g/mL.

Foods get more stars if they are:

• Lower in negative nutrients – energy, saturated fat, sodium (salt) and total sugars
• Higher in positive nutrients – dietary fibre, protein, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes

How can I use the Health Star Rating?

The Health Star Rating system is voluntary and not all products are eligible to display it, so not all packaged food will have a Health Star Rating. For those that do, you can use the Health Star Rating to quickly and easily compare the nutritional profile of similar products.

Remember to use the Health Star Rating to compare the number of stars within similar food or beverage categories only. The Health Star Rating should not be used to compare different types of food: for example, baked beans should not be compared with muesli bars. Instead, use the stars to compare one type of baked beans against another. The product with more stars is likely to be the better choice out of those options.

Heinz® continues to support and implement Health Star Ratings on a number of our packaged food products in Australia. For more information on Heinz® products please contact our Consumer Support Team on 1800 037 058.

For more information on Health Star Ratings please refer to the Health Star Rating System website.