Food Ratings Website Launched By George Institute

www.foodswitchstars.com.au

While we are waiting for the Federal Government to re-launch its healthy star food-labeling website, a world-leading health research body has stepped into the vacuum and launched one of their own.

The Sydney-based George Institute for Global Health is launching its own website that rates 55,000 packaged food products commonly found in supermarkets everywhere.

Professor Bruce Neal, a senior director at the institute, said they have been waiting long enough.

“We got sick of waiting for the Government’s website. Poor diet is now the leading cause of premature death and disability in Australia. One of key changes over past 50 years has been the progressive addition of salt, fat and sugar in our food.

We wanted to give people the chance to see how many stars their favorite products get and compare it to other products.”

The George Institute calculated the stars based on the government-backed formulae, which measures salt, fat, sugar and kilojoules, plus any positive nutrients.

More stars meant a healthier product.