Editorial: Food labels are only effective when read

Health Star Ratings are food for thought for those taking the time to check them out. File photo / Supplied

EDITORIAL

When was the last time you chose a product by checking the Health Star Ratings? No, we can't remember either.

Price is often the first consideration. Then, perhaps, brand. Maybe even alcohol-by-volume.

Yet, we are promised an overhaul of food and beverage labels to further help us decide what's best for us, in the hopes we'll suddenly wake up and start seeing stars instead of dollars and cents.

Better than labels - which seem so easily overlooked - is the Government to set targets to lower salt, sugar and saturated fat content.

When in Opposition, now Health Minister David Clark blasted the National Government for not pulling corporates into line over the "tsunami of sugar and salt in everyday foods". An article he authored in 2017 said a "massive flaw" in the voluntary food-labelling system meant it could be "rigged" by manufacturers "at the expense of New Zealanders' health".

It does seem nuts for a snack bar with enough sugar to power a teenager to the moon and back to boast a four-star health rating. And yet it's another reason to ignore the label.

Clark formerly said a Labour Government would "look at a front-of-package labelling system, such as the number of teaspoons of added sugar and salt in a product, so that people can make clear and informed decisions about their food intake".

The sixth Labour Government has been in the cosy seats for almost two years and Clark now says an independent review had been completed and Food Safety Minister Damien O'Connor is in charge. A spokeswoman for O'Connor said a report on the rating system is "imminent".

The review has been given more fuel after the biggest independent study to date of packaged food on supermarket shelves found most of it is unhealthy. The authors of the study said all packaged food should carry Health Star labels. Better than labels - which seem so easily overlooked - is their call for the Government to set targets to lower salt, sugar and saturated fat content.

Meanwhile, if you are one of the rarefied trying to find the best food by checking the labels, you are probably looking in the wrong place. As Healthy Food Guide editor-at-large Niki Bezzant says: "The healthiest food doesn't come in packaging."