There are two Government systems for determining whether foods and beverages can be considered "healthy". Both systems have anomalies but by combining the two systems most of the anomalies are removed. We have accordingly developed the Healthy Food Classification System, which utilizes both Government systems.
The more sophisticated Government system is the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) food profiling system. The purpose of this system is to determine which foods are eligible to make health claims and one of the objectives is to “promote healthy food choices by the population.”
If a food product is eligible to make a health claim then application can be made for specific claims, which FSANZ may allow if strict criteria are met. It is a variation of the food-profiling model developed by Mike Rayner and others for the Food Standards Agency in the U K. That model was “designed with independent scientific input to help distinguish less healthy food and drink products from more healthy products for the purposes of distinguishing which products might be made subject to advertising restrictions.” It was adopted by OFCOM to determine the foods that could be advertised to children on television in the UK.
The FSANZ model looks at the total food product by using a points system. “Bad” points are scored for energy, saturated fat, sugar and salt but “good” points are awarded for fruits or vegetables, protein and fibre that offset the “bad” points. If the final score is less than 1 for a beverage or less than 4 for a food, then we deem it "healthy" and rate it accordingly. There is a slightly different scoring system for dairy products and edible oils. The model is still not final and has undergone some recent tweaking. It could be further amended before the anticipated adoption in mid 2009.
The advantage of the FSANZ model is that it examines the food or beverage and takes into account its attributes as well as its failings in a very scientific way. The chief disadvantage is that the key measurement is per 100 grams thus spreads taken in small quantities such as Vegemite and condiments such as mustard cannot be rated as "healthy".
The New Zealand Ministry of Health developed a Food and Beverage Classification System (FBCS) to determine which foods are appropriate for schools to serve to children. The Ministry of Health describes the system as “a tool that can be used to identify healthy food and drink options”.
This model was based on a system developed by the Department of Health, New South Wales, Australia and adopted in various forms by other Australian states. The New Zealand and New South Wales models are similar in their objectives and basic design but the New South Wales system has greater detail for different foods - arguably excessively so. However the biggest difference between the New Zealand model and that of New South Wales and other Australian States is that the New Zealand model, unlike the Australian State counterparts, is fully transparent and the criteria is available on the Ministry of Health website. Because of its transparency the New Zealand model can be used as a proxy for the models in the various Australian States.
On the basis of nutrient criteria the FBCS model rates foods and beverages into three categories - Everyday, Sometimes and Occasional with a number of foods totally excluded from all three categories. For the purposes of the Healthy Food Rating System foods in the Everyday or Sometimes category are rated as "healthy". The advantage of the FBCS model is that it tends to be pragmatic and takes into account food eaten by children and teenagers, the nutritional value and portion size. The disadvantage is that not all foods are analysed. For instance spreads are not profiled but in the text peanut butter and thinly spread jam and honey is recommended for sandwiches. Thinly spread margarine is recommended on the outside of the bread for toasted sandwiches. All confectionary is excluded including the reformulated fat-free and sugar-free confectionary.
In New Zealand the television broadcasters have adopted a Children's Food Classification System for the purposes of defining which foods and beverages may be advertised during children's programs. Their system has similar methodology and identical outputs to the Healthy Food Ratings System. Thus foods or beverages deemed "healthy" under our Healthy Food Ratings System are also eligible to be advertised to children under the Children's Food Classification System. However the Children's Food Classification System has an additional feature designed to capture anomalies where nutritious foods and beverages are excluded under both systems, - a Specialist Nutritionist can examine a food (such as Vegemite) and determine whether it is suitable to be advertised to children. We intend to include such foods in the "healthy" category in the future.
The Healthy Food Ratings System operates as follows. We examine the nutritional information on individual foods and beverages. If it is eligible to make a health claim under the FSANZ food profiling system or classified as Everyday or Sometimes under the FBCS system it is rated as "healthy". In due course we will add foods and beverages that obtain a suitable classification by the Specialist Nutritionist.
An advantage of our system is that it is international. The FSANZ system operates in Australia and New Zealand. The FBCS system is the most transparent of the school systems that operate in various Australian States and New Zealand and all of the systems are similar in structure. Therefore it is appropriate for both countries and is easily applicable to other countries.
Finally, this website is designed to assist consumers to construct a healthy balanced diet. Regardless of the rating of the food it is important to eat a varied diet and in moderation. We hope that the Healthy Food Ratings System will assist consumers in making healthier food choices. |
