A new food labeling system that would give packages a health star-rating has been proposed as part of a federal government campaign to combat obesity.
The new scheme would see food packages ranked in half-star steps with a top ranking of five stars, aiming to encourage food manufacturers to make their products more healthful to achieve better ratings, The Australian reports.
The plan, which would be trialled as a voluntary code, will be put to state and federal ministers on Friday.
The star ratings system would apply to all packaged, manufactured or processed food presented ready-for-sale by retailers.
State ministers and dairy farmers are reportedly among those expressing concerns about the scheme which would see milk treated differently from soft drinks and confectionary, and nutrient information expressed in “per pack” form rather than “per serve”.
The proposal comes after two years of development following the controversial ‘traffic light’ food labeling system that was dumped by the government in 2011.
Other labeling systems that have been suggested include Queensland’s desperate bid to curb the states obesity crisis that was proposed earlier this year that would see graphic images of fat featured on junk food labels, similar to shocking anti-smoking images printed on cigarette packets.
Your say: Do you think a star rating would help the nation’s obesity problem? How do you think the issue should be tackled?
