The Australian confectionery industry has described claims by Choice that global confectioners aren't doing their bit for the Health Star Rating (HSR) system as “totally inappropriate”.
The rebuttal follows a call by Choice for global confectionery giants to display Health Stars on packs, however the confectionery industry says it has already reached an agreement with the Federal Government's Health Star Rating Committee (which includes a representative from Choice), over its inclusion in the system.
That agreement will see the HSR applied to confectionery products, according to the head of the Confectionery Sector of the Australian Industry Group, Tim Piper, although confectionery manufacturers are not required to include stars on front-of-pack.
Piper said Choice is well aware of this understanding, which made its criticisms of the confectionery industry “totally inappropriate”.
"A review of the System will be conducted five years after its introduction, also agreed by the HSR Committee," Piper said.
His response followed a call by Choice this week for Mars and Mondelez to roll out Health Stars Ratings on all their products.
“These global food giants have changed their packaging many times since the Health Star system was launched two years ago. There is no excuse for them hiding the health information their customers crave,” says Choice's head of media Tom Godfrey.
“It seems clear Mondelez’s reluctance to roll out Health Stars is because they are embarrassed by the nutritional profile of their products.”
