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An Everyday Shopper and a Former Pro of the Health Star Rating System Go Head-to-Head
Manage episode 390519190 series 3540224
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You’ve probably heard about the Health Star Rating (HSR) by now. Either via news articles pointing out its flaws or Hamish & Andy as they give it their comedic spin. It has been the centre of much controversy and confusion - but can it actually help you during your supermarket shop?
I’ve bought in two people to have this conversation. An everyday shopper like many of you (Jimmy) and a former pro who has applied the HSR to food products for a number of years (Marie).
We cover:
How your everyday shopper may perceive the health star rating (HSR)
Why the HSR exists
How many products actually display the HSR on their product?
The HSR in mainstream media
The algorithm - how does it work?
The categories - what are they?
Review of the HSR in 2020
Why does the exact same product have different star ratings?
Algorithm rules you need to know
How can you use the HSR?
Does the HSR align with the dietary guidelines?
One-liners you don’t want to miss
“The big problem around the health star rating at the moment is the lack of education to the consumer. I don’t think people understand that it is grouped on products and it isn’t necessarily reflective of how healthy it is for you, but a healthier option than others in that same category.”
“There are now automatic star ratings on top of the algorithm to fix some of these previous problems of the system.”
“Nutrition isn’t simple, creating an algorithm that simplifies nutrition down to a star rating from 0.5 to 5, this is a huge feat. There is always going to be inconsistencies.”
“All HSR are done on a per 100g basis so serve size is not a consideration of the health star rating which I think is another thing that people get confused about.”
“The HSR does’t take into account the processing of a food. It is more of a nutritional measure rather than processed.”
“Health star rating isn’t all encompassing, it essentially just uses most of what is on the nutrition panel.”
“I also like to use the HSR as a red flag or a green flag. If something has a lower rating than I thought it should, it prompts me to take a further look into the nutrition of the product.”
“If you can, take your learning a little bit further. Say there is product you consume all the time and you have no idea why you consume it, look at the HSR. Then if you are feeling really into nutrition that day, flip the box over and look at the ingredients list and see if you can learn a bit more that way as well.”
P.S. The last 10-minutes of the podcast we didn't have Marie as she had other commitments and our podcast went a little longer than expected..!
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