Food, Drink & Dining Out Health star rating on packaged food

[MC Extra Dollop]

How much currency do people give it? I can see the people who weigh every meal and don't eat a specific type of food purely for dietary reasons (red meat, dairy, whatever) saying it's a load of bollocks and the fact that it's voluntary is a bit of a red flag (if you're less than three stars why would you volunteer to put that on your packaging?), but in fairness it does encourage me to take the healthier option rather than the bulk buy snags (1.5 stars out of 5), or cheese slices (2.5 stars out of 5). If it becomes mandatory, I don't see how it can be a bad thing.

So for those who are a bit more knowledgeable than me, what are the pros and cons of this system? And what are some of the 'surprising' ratings? One that springs to mind for me would be the faux healthy cereals, the ones that I was always told were utter s**t with good marketing (e.g. nutri grain) tend to get around 4 stars.

 

[Run n Spread]

Not much. Too many special interests get involved, compromises made so the accuracy is diluted. Just list the ingredients and let people make their minds up from there.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Not much. Too many special interests get involved, compromises made so the accuracy is diluted. Just list the ingredients and let people make their minds up from there.

I guess an off shoot of that is the nutrition information where the product rates itself per 'serve' and you think 'that's actually not bad for an iced coffee', then you realise it suggests a 500ml bottle has like four serves in it.

 

[Gralin]

When Milo is allowed to put a star rating on the packaging based on skim milk and a weird serving size instead of just the nutritional value of what is in the can it means jack s**t

so many ways to manipulate it as to make it useless as anything other than a marketing tool

 

[Aussie_boy]

Lost all credibility in my eyes when I noticed Farmers Union Iced Coffee was 4.5/5.

 

[Scotland]

I find the little energy labels on the front interesting, and the breakdown of salt, sugar, fats etc. on the back. It's basic, but if something has 50g of sugar in it it's good to know whether it's refined or otherwise.

What is complete bullshit is 'serving size'. A 170g bag of chips with a little label saying '617 kJ - 7% of RDI' is nonsense when a serving size is 27g. No one opens a bag of chips and eats 1/6th of the contents. Just put on the front '3885 kJ - 44% of RDI' and see if that changes any behaviours.

 

[Billy ray]

if it wasn't available to buy when you grandparents were your age, its processed and probably not good for you.
but a little bit now and then is ok
that's my general philosophy on food.

 

[JackOutback]

Lost all credibility in my eyes when I noticed Farmers Union Iced Coffee was 4.5/5.

100 per cent pure maple syrup gets one star. Lime jelly crystals got three. Says all you need to know about the credibility of the system.

 

[ash_1050]

The health star rating is displayed as "compared to other similar foods". Hence why Farmers Union can have 4.5/5 because it's better than other similar products, despite also being woefully unhealthy for you.

 

[the_interloper]

The fact that its packaged probably indicates it's not going to be great for you. I think more relevant than fat content is sugar and salt anyway, those rice cracker biscuits have * all fat but an absolute shitload of salt for example. I still love them though, bloody awesome.

 

[utility]

Rule of thumb - anything in packaged food with a health star rating is not good for you.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

The health star rating is displayed as "compared to other similar foods". Hence why Farmers Union can have 4.5/5 because it's better than other similar products, despite also being woefully unhealthy for you.

IIRC, Dare gets a similar rating, perhaps 4 stars. I guess that would make sense, although I can't remember seeing a similar high rating on a packet of chocolate for example. Suppose it depends on what is considered a 'similar food'.

 

[Thegibbsgamble]

if it wasn't available to buy when you grandparents were your age, its processed and probably not good for you.
but a little bit now and then is ok
that's my general philosophy on food.

Billy don't be a hero
Don't be a fool with your account

Common sense and knowledge gets you in trouble here.

I see so many products with heart foundation approved labels. Yet they have cancer causing additives in them

As gralin said marketing