0:00

When it comes to packaged food, How. Do

0:02

you figure out what's healthy and what's not?

0:05

So special. about four and

0:07

a half stars. She's

0:10

like galaxy. Back. And

0:12

twenty only been been Minister for Food

0:15

Safety, Nicky K. announced a new way

0:17

for New Zealanders to make healthy choices

0:19

last week. I was pleased to announce

0:21

New Zealand's intention to adopt a new

0:24

how star rating food labelling system, and

0:26

while it received industry support, there were

0:28

some hiccups. Begin this morning with the

0:30

Health Start writing our food producers managing

0:33

to manipulate the only food labelling system

0:35

designed to consumers with information about what's

0:37

healthy for. The ratings are based on

0:39

an algorithm that sift through the cool

0:42

jews fiber, saturated fat, salts and sugar

0:44

a product has been. How the algorithm

0:46

allows some sugar food serious to get

0:49

top marks means something is gonna. Sound

0:51

writings are supposed to help us make

0:53

better choices at the supermarket. The more

0:56

stars the healthier. The food. rice. The

0:58

system is voluntary and has led to

1:00

some puzzlingly high ratings. The sugary cereal.

1:02

Health Star ratings displayed on boxes of food.

1:05

Know supermarkets are supposed to help us make

1:07

bit of food choices but do died. One

1:09

mom and food writer thinks they can actually

1:11

do more harm than good and. Experts

1:14

were critical. It has

1:16

been an experiment of government

1:18

working with industry and with

1:20

India Is and academics to

1:22

try to collectively come up

1:25

with a system and that.

1:27

Does. Not were. Yeah, I

1:29

think the system is very broken.

1:32

I think it misses the biggest

1:34

issue. and now. Dot.

1:36

Were swimming and sugar in this

1:38

country. Their. Food manufacturers have deliberately

1:41

manipulated they recipe in order to

1:43

get the most amount of stars.

1:45

It undermines consumer confidence in the

1:47

whole system. Kilda I'm to vein

1:50

as a man and today on the date

1:52

out is our health really written and the

1:54

staff. The health rating system was introduced over

1:56

a decade ago but the aim of making

1:58

it easy for shoppers. The identify the

2:01

healthiest options within similar packaged food

2:03

items. But. It's had

2:05

plenty of critics with health experts calling

2:08

it a broken blue pulled system that

2:10

allows industry players to cherry pick the

2:12

right things and avoid putting stars on

2:15

the lease. Healthy products, Belinda Castles research

2:17

and his writer at Consumer is it

2:19

sits. There was a lot of confusion

2:21

in the early days among suffers other

2:24

house actually use it. In. Our

2:26

opinion: We don't think it's been enough

2:28

education about how to use the health

2:30

or writing. We've also got lots of

2:32

future suits and other areas of for

2:34

packaging like unhealthy food bank mack that

2:36

to children for example you this just

2:38

a lot of things that need to

2:40

or complement each other to make it

2:42

easier for consumers to. Buy. Healthy

2:44

aside for the families. Can you explain

2:46

the health so rating system to me?

2:49

To. The house the rating system as the

2:51

front of text bird my thoughts and

2:53

tinted to give consumers at a glance

2:55

them to my son about a pet

2:57

in spurts of over or nutritional value

2:59

saw and when food industry wants to

3:01

catch that the racing they put an

3:04

older because than the nutrition of my

3:06

son panel so the industry content the

3:08

and to set your an affair with

3:10

sodium added so guy and been. The

3:12

positive attributes are like five

3:14

a protein. Mix it, dress and

3:17

Minutes but felt this number of compensate

3:19

rates are the negative. Attribute: Compensate.

3:22

For the positive and by this A

3:24

so that's why you might get a

3:26

product that has a relatively high amount

3:28

of sugar in it but still gets

3:30

a relatively high house. The racing and

3:32

met with is a little bit of

3:35

confusion about the system as companies adding

3:37

things like fiber and protein entered a

3:39

price said give them a highrise hangs.

3:41

it's ultimately making them healthier which is

3:43

what we want right to read. So

3:46

is one of the positives of a

3:48

select. Like. That so say that

3:50

can encourage the food industry to reformulate.

3:52

See products are make them healthier Buy

3:54

into this fifth grade but it needs

3:56

to be. You know what are they

3:58

adding? What classify brother editing as the

4:00

actually making it a healthier product? You

4:03

know they still relatively high levels of

4:05

say sugar and sodium and new product

4:07

sites really important There is some has

4:09

it's it's either to the extra information

4:11

on the food label what's of course

4:13

is not really the intention of this.

4:15

Also racing into. The they see

4:17

a lot of confusion among consumers about how

4:19

to use the racing, so I see Slates.

4:22

It. Intended for packaged foods normally

4:24

saw it at. Shouldn't say a substitute

4:26

for following the healthy eating guidelines I

4:28

like. Okay that patches for his five

4:31

the racing I should. Replace it

4:33

beyond sedately since the least proxy

4:35

votes, for example, at. Some intended

4:37

affair and also he can't compete that of

4:39

apples and pears because the calculations different sorts

4:41

he said look at the cereal aisle and

4:44

got right with and of can agree I

4:46

can look at the different writings but I

4:48

can't compete with that box of cereal let's

4:50

say about for practice or of fossil of

4:52

cooking oil so you got to really pick

4:55

him playing like for like to get the

4:57

most benefit from it. When I

4:59

would say supplemented we got quite

5:01

a lot of queries about products

5:03

that were say hi in a

5:05

particular. Avenue. True, like the

5:08

high sugar products, it was still getting

5:10

a high rise thing because consumers didn't

5:12

understand that kind of compensate a race,

5:14

tuck your license and also in the

5:16

early days see with some kind of

5:18

weird. Misleading. Way

5:20

Sit and companies were using the racing

5:22

So for example my. Life New Zealand's

5:25

iconic chocolates. Drink Milo and sit

5:27

to lose as hell. Star rating

5:29

Molars Full point five or four

5:31

and a half health writing style

5:33

be drops was consuming you Zealand

5:35

saying the chocolate pound up as

5:37

almost fifty percent sugar. Set. In the

5:39

day and you flats in a mine. Owner had a

5:41

full size house racing on us but then he looked

5:43

at a. Back and that feeds this

5:46

as as prepared with skim milk

5:48

the exo. Milo itself had a

5:50

hostile racing and I think that

5:52

with one and a half. So

5:54

thankfully that lip oh think that

5:56

stuff but the with plenty of

5:58

anomalies. this met consumer mistrust assistance.

6:00

and so you mentioned Milo as

6:02

a specific one has he been?

6:04

Other foods that have feigned complained

6:06

about for having misleading right? Kinda.

6:09

Today that the high circuit serial

6:11

Senator grain come to mind Hon

6:14

Flag and a Salazar with size

6:16

home have says his grub stone.

6:18

Needs his own as a high price Him

6:20

serial. Said home for the

6:23

case have failed them into I see

6:25

no it's relatively high sugar products and

6:27

when they reformulated at for time out

6:29

a fourth their health. racing thoughts. it's

6:31

a little bit of up in arms

6:33

about. you know, how can a product

6:35

that is is nearly a third? So

6:37

guess I'm hip. The thigh health, the

6:40

racing. And so I gave the calculator

6:42

ago because it's online for anyone to

6:44

use and I put in two different

6:46

measly bars because that's what I always

6:48

am in the aisles struggling to figure

6:50

out which ones healthier. I put

6:52

in a Whole Foods. Father had a total

6:55

of six ingredients which was like, you know,

6:57

dried fruits, nuts, that sort of thing and

6:59

that came up to two and a half

7:01

stars. And Dean I put in

7:04

a chocolate bar and that came out

7:06

of four. Does? how does that stack

7:08

up? When. I think it's

7:10

it's important for a nice her for

7:12

consumers denied us and at a glance

7:14

and. Helpful. when you're out

7:16

shopping. But it's not simply the only

7:18

consideration. I mean, if you're interested in

7:21

how pretty soon. A photos which

7:23

is oversee really important and picking one

7:25

with your ingredients as really useful to

7:27

secret ingredients. less to and a narrow

7:29

time Pull up a even if you're

7:31

buying products of the first time in

7:33

a look at the house or writing

7:35

but into several cheeks. What And

7:37

the products? because? A hugely

7:39

long list of ingredients that.

7:42

Most. Of us wouldn't recognize. Healthy

7:44

Eating guidelines advise people to limit

7:46

this sugar intake specifically added concentrated

7:48

in artificial said is that the

7:50

lender says it's difficult to do

7:52

that because I'm not listed separately

7:54

on a product. Citrus in label

7:56

and the hell surprising looks at

7:58

the total service. Which also includes

8:01

natural ones. So. It's really just

8:03

was followed. It could help eating and

8:05

by ambulance echelon of with things done.

8:07

And. By Foods and of the surly in

8:10

New Zealand and the public health and consumer

8:12

groups and New Zealand have been putting a

8:14

lot of were considered defining added sugars because

8:16

the game that. Really? Technical and

8:18

Complex. The natural sugars as that

8:20

of the ones that you would find my

8:22

silly naturally are intrinsically and a food product.

8:25

So it's when you ate a piece of

8:27

fruits, you've got the natural sugars with a

8:29

net fruits. But then you've got all the

8:31

other good things rest around. Like

8:34

notify bar and. The vitamins and

8:36

minerals and things like that. but we. Need

8:38

prices? Fit sugar and say a fruit juice

8:40

or three purchase concentrate you loads a lot

8:42

of a positive attributes and when you think

8:44

about it, a fruit juice. Most

8:47

of pieces of fruit which she wouldn't

8:49

be having sex with success with a

8:51

month guy but he my easily drink

8:53

that amount of sugar and and one

8:55

glass of juice so it's it's of

8:57

concentrating. My sugars. A. Review of

8:59

the Trans Tasman System and Twenty

9:01

Nine Tainted recommend a tough a

9:03

crack down on products high insult

9:05

or sugar and also suggested an

9:07

automatic five star rating for minimally

9:09

processed fruits and vegetables of sound.

9:11

Overall, the system was working well.

9:14

Which. Frustrated some health experts. Because.

9:16

It remained voluntary or would welcome administered

9:18

Ac. looking at looking at a whole

9:20

system and looking at the attack targets.

9:23

But I think it's also a good

9:25

opportunity to look at system as a

9:27

whole and in oversee the house they're

9:29

racing is misunderstood by consumers. It's a

9:31

little bit confusing fees other systems this

9:33

and we could perhaps look at. I

9:35

mean not throwing out the house or

9:37

reading title A but using some pointing

9:40

which is what they've done and other

9:42

can't say so. for example you could

9:44

potentially have proof fit into higher rating.

9:46

Thing and labeled green and the inside

9:48

them that their purpose and one thing

9:51

reads and then you'd need to he

9:53

metics and racists into this about we

9:55

the consumers would understand it but is

9:58

decently other systems am and other. Absolutely

10:00

we could pope hope it from anything warning

10:02

labels You know that sad it's be use

10:04

really successfully and you know Latin american countries

10:07

are you know if the the right thing

10:09

that was so us that of high in

10:11

sugar high in sodium. Approach to

10:13

the front of levels. But. He not

10:16

been to the died face warning labels alone

10:18

in a calico to that house or writing

10:20

the only gonna be effective in useful for

10:22

consumers of the mandatory because of the not

10:24

mandatory the and companies that you know why

10:26

would they bother. Museum. Food

10:28

Safety is the government body responsible

10:31

for the area, and it's also

10:33

the authority for imports and exports

10:35

of food and food related products.

10:37

and it's Deputy Director General. Sense

10:39

and Arbuckle Becsey up the nature

10:41

of the system. Artist. The

10:43

intention was to bring industry

10:45

alone on the journey had

10:47

has got some in August

10:49

milestones on. There was a

10:51

mall starting point for Light

10:53

last year which the expectation

10:55

as of Sept seem to

10:57

have are eligible for Max

10:59

would displays. Hostile Racing is

11:01

another milestone this year. Sixty

11:03

percent. By the end of next year

11:06

sentences the goal is seventy percent, and that's

11:08

when officials will look at how well this

11:10

has since licking. The intention the

11:12

knows that ah them third ministers

11:14

from from New Zealand and Australia

11:16

within look at the uptight can

11:18

determine whether a voluntary system is

11:21

working or whether it needs a

11:23

mandatory Ah approach Would do understand

11:25

that industry needs lead on times

11:27

and for some of them they

11:30

are. We are seeing evidence that

11:32

the Reeves formulating the products progressively

11:34

to your low sugar for instance

11:36

or more assault arm and that

11:38

will be reflected in the. Star

11:41

Rating: So you time and

11:43

a voluntary system. Was.

11:46

Deemed at the time was introduces the

11:48

is the best way to just industry

11:50

to come along on the journey and

11:52

what percentage? Oh yeah right now the

11:55

subtext was correlated like last year and

11:57

has just been finalized will be presented

11:59

to. Our food ministers,

12:01

the trans Tasman Sea ministers who

12:04

oversee this. he early this year

12:06

to be papa be around my.

12:09

He. Had a rough so get eaten give us

12:11

said. I'd know I don't have that it's

12:13

available the Moments Nine. So. It's

12:15

not clear what percentage of packaged foods

12:17

actually display the rating system at the

12:20

moment. like last year health minister saying

12:22

that he admitted he didn't think the

12:24

system was fit for purpose anymore and

12:26

indicated that national wanted to review it.

12:29

But. While the sounds like good news Boyd

12:31

Slim burned his a professor of Population

12:33

Nutrition and Global Health at Oakland University

12:36

doesn't have much hope that the system

12:38

will be mandated. They've kept it

12:40

as a voluntary system despite all

12:42

the public health organization sites. This

12:45

thing has to be mandatory for

12:47

to have any version. So now

12:49

the seat after five years v

12:51

and needs to be health star

12:54

ratings on at least seventy percent.

12:56

Of. The products otherwise the government

12:59

should consider making it mandatory

13:01

says still very soft language but

13:03

even a fit if it

13:05

doesn't get to seventy percent and

13:08

still takes a lot of

13:10

bravery for government to step up

13:12

and do things in the public

13:14

good but against the private good

13:17

of the food industry. That's the

13:19

battle that the politicians have

13:21

to run one of the challenges

13:24

as that's this is a

13:26

New Zealand and. Australian system

13:28

and therefore, oh, he agreements

13:30

need to be across both

13:32

countries. Are you dealing with

13:35

the food industries in both

13:37

countries? I mean, we've We've

13:39

seen the power of a

13:42

totally marginalized industry, the tobacco

13:44

industry, and it's power on

13:46

influencing the current government. in

13:49

changing our smoke free regulation

13:51

the food industry is way

13:53

way way more powerful way

13:56

way more mainstream accepted and

13:58

it's many times important

14:00

to the New Zealand economy. But

14:02

yeah, no, Dr Eddy has taken a look

14:04

at this, he's questioned it and this is

14:07

great. But Boyd thinks it needs

14:09

to be taken further than just mandating

14:11

the system. Number one, have some

14:13

warning labels on there which distinctly

14:15

tell the consumer that this is

14:17

high in sugar or salt or

14:19

fat and secondly to

14:22

add in other policies to

14:24

make the difference as to whether this

14:26

is going to really change consumer behavior

14:29

or industry behavior. So

14:31

what are some of the other systems

14:33

that we see overseas that you think

14:36

would be better? Latin America is

14:38

leading the world in food policy

14:41

and so they have warning signs. It

14:43

says this product is high

14:45

in salt or sugar or

14:48

saturated fat or whatever. The

14:51

value with the system is

14:53

not only the front of pack labeling

14:55

system which has to be mandatory, no

14:57

company is ever going to put a

14:59

warning label voluntarily

15:02

on the front of pack and

15:04

they bring it along with other

15:07

policies like restrictions on

15:09

marketing of those foods, restrictions on

15:11

health claims on those foods, aspects

15:14

around what's taxed, what can be

15:16

sold and provided in schools. This

15:19

compulsory front of pack labeling

15:22

with these other policies to back it up

15:25

guides the consumers to healthy choices

15:27

and changes their behavior and

15:30

secondly it influences the companies

15:32

to reformulate their products to

15:34

make them healthier. But

15:36

aren't they just in terms of you know let's

15:38

say sugar for an example, replace

15:41

real sugars with artificial sugars and make it

15:43

lower in sugar? I mean isn't that a

15:45

way to bypass it? That is and that's

15:47

true and that's one of the one of the lessons from

15:50

the early implementation of this

15:53

in Latin America because the industry will work its

15:56

way around whatever regulations it

15:58

can. Now The late... This

16:00

versions of it like and

16:02

Mexico and Colombia. they now

16:05

have a label which is

16:07

for artificial sweeteners saying this

16:09

is not suitable for children.

16:12

So. Yep, things like that need to

16:14

be taken into account, but am they're

16:16

learning as a massive rate of knots

16:19

in Latin America and we're not taking

16:21

advantage of any of that research said

16:23

understanding of how to of have a

16:26

good front of pack labelling system. If

16:28

you've got something say like a whole sewed

16:30

ah that's made out of dates and nuts

16:32

and continent and stuff like that. He got

16:34

another bar that's lower end so that better

16:37

has a whole lot of artificial sweeteners and

16:39

stuff like that. The one that would obviously

16:41

have highest so that would have a lower

16:43

house or writing says it's hiring said that

16:45

that it's net so said as so. how

16:47

does that stuff. Has it sticks

16:49

of really difficult. Excellence

16:52

And as been a long

16:55

ongoing debate about how you

16:57

can differentiate between those two

16:59

examples, you guys So. When.

17:03

You take the product and you just

17:05

analyze it chemically ends well. I'm I'm

17:07

Scott Sugar which has come from inside

17:10

the died so the apricot or whatever

17:12

and has wrecked up within the cells

17:14

and a still live this is added

17:16

civilian ice sucrose has been added to

17:19

the product. Bike him a three. you're

17:21

not going to be able to tell

17:23

the difference. but we do know that

17:26

because the sugar is wrapped up within

17:28

the cells within a whole fruit for

17:30

example then that's doesn't have nearly the.

17:33

Health consequences as the free added

17:35

sugar butts being able to distinguish

17:37

them and then codify as into

17:39

this algorithm has proved to be

17:41

really tricky Spc with the industry

17:43

saying this is impossible you can

17:45

do is set up particularly want

17:48

that exposed on their on the

17:50

front of pay. Label. that

17:52

this is full of added sugars

17:54

as opposed to the service which

17:56

come within fruits and vegetables as

17:58

on say that quite a

18:00

lot of gaming of the algorithm and

18:03

of the system by the industry and

18:06

what we have seen is

18:08

that the algorithm

18:10

contains elements which

18:12

give it negative points like salt and

18:14

fat and sugar and items

18:17

which give it positive points like fiber

18:19

and protein and fruit and vegetables and

18:21

so on and so they

18:23

have manipulated the foods to try

18:25

to get a better rating which

18:27

is fine we expect them to

18:30

reformulate and one of the ways

18:32

they the two main ways they've done it

18:35

is to reduce salt and

18:37

to increase fiber but

18:39

these differences are relatively

18:42

small actually whenever we've

18:44

looked at how much the

18:47

health star rating is influencing

18:50

actual consumer behavior or

18:52

actual industry behavior and

18:55

reformulation it's very small

18:57

it's often hard to detect it's not

18:59

statistically significant it might be a

19:01

few percent change whereas when you look

19:04

at the Latin American data where they

19:06

have it mandatory they have other policies

19:08

that are brought in the changes

19:12

in consumer behaviors and in the

19:14

industry behavior is more like 10-20

19:17

percent shifts so

19:19

it's much much more substantial right

19:21

so you're saying that Kiwis and

19:23

Australians don't actually really refer to

19:25

the health star rating system when

19:28

they're shopping they say

19:30

they do so when

19:32

you do surveys of consumers there's

19:34

quite high numbers that say oh

19:37

yes we do use it but

19:39

when you measure the actual behavior

19:42

and the change in their purchases

19:44

as we have done it's very

19:46

very hard to detect any shift

19:48

from before the health star rating

19:50

came in to since it's been

19:52

implemented and part of this

19:55

is probably just because of

19:57

a very low penetration of the

20:00

health star into the

20:02

system, a very few of the products having it

20:04

on the front of pack. Back

20:06

to Vincent Arbuckle now, who seems to have a

20:08

different view on things. There's

20:10

good evidence now, and we ran a

20:14

survey last year which is

20:16

about to be published, which

20:19

suggested that about 83% of

20:21

consumers now use health star

20:24

rating. And

20:27

in 2018, there was a survey

20:29

that suggested three quarters of New

20:31

Zealand shoppers recognise health

20:33

star rating. So I think there was

20:36

a consumer demand and interest

20:38

in the use of health star rating. Okay,

20:41

so the health star ratings are meant to

20:43

be a quick and easy way to compare

20:45

similar packaged foods and choose the healthier option.

20:48

But is it accurate? Let's

20:51

look at Nutrigrain. It has a health star rating

20:53

of 4. So that must

20:55

mean it's healthy, right? But

20:57

a quick look at the nutrition panel identifies

21:00

that just one cup, which is the recommended

21:02

serving, contains over 9 grams of

21:04

sugar. The public health recommended daily

21:06

amount of sugar for the average adult is

21:08

25 grams, about 6

21:10

teaspoons. So just one serving

21:13

of Nutrigrain takes up nearly a third of the

21:15

advised intake, and that's just if you eat it

21:17

straight from the packet. I

21:19

asked Vincent what he thought of this. I

21:22

mean, it's a good point. And New Zealand

21:24

Australia has done work and we

21:27

probably could do more to explain

21:29

to consumers it is not an indication

21:31

that that's a product that you want

21:33

to eat, as I said before, three

21:35

times a day. It

21:37

is a cereal, but within a

21:40

cereal category, relative

21:42

to other cereals, one

21:44

that has a four star rating is overall

21:47

better for you from a health perspective

21:49

than one that's a two star. Look,

21:51

it is something we need to keep

21:53

making sure that we do explain to

21:56

consumers that it's not saying cereal

21:58

is a preferred food. type. We

22:01

do know that a balanced diet

22:03

should be high in fruit

22:05

and vegetables, grains,

22:08

whole foods, cereals

22:10

are a part of a diet

22:12

but city should not be the

22:14

dominant part of someone's diet. In

22:17

an ideal world, both Belinda and Boyd

22:19

would like to see a mandatory front

22:21

of pack labelling and better education around

22:23

how to actually use the system. But

22:26

the main takeaway is to remember food stars

22:28

only give a brief depiction of a product's

22:30

healthiness. Belinda advises shoppers who

22:32

are wanting to make healthier choices to look

22:34

at the back of the packet as well.

22:37

The house they're running is a helpful guide, just

22:39

don't get me wrong, but

22:41

just consider that it doesn't consider the

22:43

amount of processing. So you need to

22:46

check the ingredients list and also check

22:48

the nutrition information panel as well if

22:50

you're deciding between two breakfast cereals for

22:53

example, check which ones have lower levels

22:55

of sodium, saturated fat and

22:57

sugars. So those are really the three

23:00

things to be looking for. And we

23:02

say to people especially with breakfast cereals,

23:04

which are splashed with planes and trying

23:06

to get your kids to nag

23:08

for some of those brightly coloured ones, ignore

23:10

those planes on the front. It's really that

23:12

nutrition information panel in the back and the

23:14

ingredients list that are really important to look

23:17

at. I mean, the

23:19

bottom line for choosing healthy foods is

23:21

to stick to the outside of the

23:23

supermarket. You know, stick with the products

23:25

that you can recognise, the whole

23:28

foods, the fruit, vegetables,

23:30

all the meat section, those things

23:32

that you recognise. Do

23:34

you have any other tips of what people

23:36

should look for if they are buying packaged

23:39

food? What they should look

23:41

for? For instance, let's just say like a breakfast

23:43

cereal. So if you want a

23:45

breakfast cereal, you can look on the front and maybe

23:47

the health star rating will be there. Maybe it won't,

23:50

especially if it's one that's high in sugar and salt.

23:53

But you can look on the back. Sometimes you need

23:56

a nutrition degree to be able to interpret the nutrition

23:59

information panel. panel on the back. But

24:01

if you look at the list of ingredients, sometimes

24:03

that gives you a clue if there's a long

24:05

list, if it contains stuff you don't have in

24:07

your kitchen, if it contains

24:09

numbers of additives and colourings and

24:11

flavourings, that's a warning

24:14

sign that this is an ultra-processed

24:16

food. So I would say

24:18

keep those to a minimum. That's

24:24

all for this week. Thanks to Belinda

24:26

Castle, Boyd Swinburne and Vincent R Buckle.

24:29

This episode was engineered by Phil Bench

24:31

and produced by Alexia Russell. I'm

24:33

Davina Zimmes, and I play Toda Akaka.