At the request of industry, the Australian New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation has further considered the treatment of fruit and vegetable juice (no added sugar) and other non-dairy beverages under the updated Health Star Rating System. The Forum has announced that they supported a proposal for a minor adjustment to the HSR review calculator to address an anomaly.
Diet beverages will now achieve no more than 3.5 stars, as this option best aligns with the intention from the HSR Five-Year Review recommendations and with the Australian and New Zealand dietary guidelines.
The Forum noted the Australian Government Department of Health will provide further advice in relation to adjusting the HSR calculator for 100 percent fruit and vegetable juices (no added sugar) for discussion at the next meeting, to be held in February 2021.
The Health Star Rating system is a voluntary labelling system that makes it easier to choose healthier foods and beverages. We encourage all New Zealand beverage producers to roll out Health Star Ratings across products as soon as reasonably possible on front-of-pack labelling.
You can learn more about the changes to the HRS System here.
The New Zealand Beverage Council will also be making a submission to the Ministry for the Environment in response to their consultation document: Reducing the impact of plastic on our environment.
The Government wants New Zealand to move away from hard to recycle plastics as a means to help protect our environment. NZBC welcomes comments from members and asks that you get in touch by end of day Thursday, December 3rd.
