The Health Star Rating (HSR)
system, which rates foods from half-a-star to five stars based on nutritional
value, was approved by the Federal and State Ministers in June 2013 and has
been implemented since June 2014 on a voluntary basis by the food industry. Interestingly,
the system is at odds with the Australian Dietary Guidelines in the exclusion
of whole grains from the algorithm.
Currently, the nutritional
value of a large number of whole grain foods is not accurately reflected in the
HSR system due to the exclusion of whole grain from the algorithm to calculate
the number of stars. In consultation with manufacturers, GLNC conducted an
assessment of 285 grain-based foods on shelf in 2015 – 2016 which shows that the
crude inclusion of whole grain in the HSR system algorithm would affect at
least 76 products across a variety of categories. This represents one quarter
of all grain foods assessed.
One argument against the
inclusion of whole grain in the calculation of HSR ‘V’ points is that fibre may
be considered a proxy measure for whole grain. However, the assessment of the number
of products affected by the addition of whole grain to the calculation
indicates this is not always true.
GLNC understands that
altering the algorithm to include whole grain may be more complex than the
crude addition of a point. However, we believe the magnitude of the potential
public health benefit warrants consideration of a change to the algorithm.
Only
30% of the grain food intake of Australian adults is whole grain, well short of
the 66% recommended by the Australian Dietary Guidelines. By recognizing whole
grain in the HSR system, this will encourage people to choose foods higher in
whole grain more often which will promote increased whole grain consumption, reducing
risk of chronic disease.
Adding
whole grain to the HSR algorithm may encourage the development of foods with
higher whole grain content. This is a positive change for the food supply. Currently,
whole grain is used predominantly in core grain foods such as breakfast cereals
and bread, but in a very limited capacity in discretionary foods such as
biscuits. Any proposed change to the algorithm would need to assess the
potential effect on the HSR of discretionary foods. However, it is unlikely
large quantities of whole grain would be added to discretionary foods for reasons
of increasing HSR status only as this raises functional issues. Manufacturers
have found adding large quantities of the bran and germ content of whole grain
wheat can have a detrimental effect on product quality and acceptability.
As the HSR system evolves, consideration should be given to the
significant public health benefit of potentially changing the algorithm to
include whole grain.
