Analyzing The Health Star Rating Assessment Answers

Describe about the Analyzing the Health Star Rating System.

Answer:

Introduction

The Health Star Rating system is a component of three parts namely declaration of energy, nutrients, and grading. Therefore assessment seeks to identify the loopholes, advantages, disadvantages and possible solutions of the applicability of this system to the citizens of Australia. Furthermore, it highlights the laws and provisions that regulate and safeguard its implementation, and it mainly has impacts on the industries, consumers, and the government.

In understanding the effects of this scheme, it is important to know the key elements of the health star rating system which are:

The following acts provide for the rating of healthy food in accordance with the prescribed nutritional standards in Australia. In addition to the food standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), the following acts also incorporate the rating of food to guarantee proper health conditions amongst individuals.

The Legislative and Governance Forum on Food Regulation which proposed a Front-of-Pack Labelling (FoPL).

Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance

Australian Food and Grocery Council

Public Health Association of Australia 

Enhancing identification of healthier products by consumers

A good health rating system, according to Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, is used in the identification of healthy products that are consumable by buyers and the general public. According to an observation from a worker in a food industry in Australia, buyers usually prefer messages that are easy to understand to relying on complex information from the panel of nutrition (Chen, Ou, & Hollis, 2013).

Promotion of an official health marketing process

Through the Forum on Food Regulation, healthy marketing processes are identified and noticed According to businesses already involved in the marketing of their health products, the health star rating has assured them of their health status. This is because they frequently assume that all products have high grading and that consumers are made aware of the mandates of the government to this system.

Creates an opportunity for products reformulation

An interview with three workers in the health food sector pointed out on the fact that the HSR system could serve them better in reformulating their baked goods so as to improve their star ratings. In improving their ratings, they lower the levels of sugar and fats contents to improve health status (Andrews, Lin, Levy, & Lo, 2014).

Negative Implications of the Health Star Rating System

1. The negative impact on small businesses

1. The negative impact on industries

• Associated risks and costs of HSR systems

The risks of the HSR system is usually high in the execution stage unlike during its formation where investments for rating calculations and changing labels are made (Gunja & Brown, 2012). These risks include affecting the value of the brand of a company and loss of markets, leading to non-adoption of the system in the long run.

Negative implications on the consumers

The probability of consumers ignoring this system is high because their choices will be based on price and taste rather than health effects. Additionally, there will occur a decline in demand for products sold as some businesses do not believe in the role of HSR in dictating preferences of the consumers (Morley, Scully, Martin, Niven, Dixon& Wakefield, 2013).

1. Reduced value of the brand

For organizations dealing with delicate products in the market, there are high risks of losing value and life of products, herby impacting negatively on the lasting ability and product quality (Devi, Eyles, Rayner, Mhurchu, Swinburn, Lonsdale-Cooper, & Vandevijvere, 2014).

 Lack of a consistent system for application

1. Little evidence available

• The problem of categorization of food

• The clash in values and cultures

Recommendations to the challenges

The following measures are applicable in helping to solve these challenges (Graham, Orquin, & Visschers, 2012).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the health star rating system should be a voluntary process to all industries, consumers and organizations. This is because of the nature of its positive and negative impacts on the industries to help in remedying the situation. Furthermore, there is a need for education and the sensitization of the public on the needed nutrition labels in both rural and urban settings as a means of evaluating the effectivity of HRS system as explained above. Therefore it is rightful to say that majority of Australians lack awareness on the health star rating system. Additionally, a high number of people appreciate the concept of stars in the scheme, which dictates that the more the stars the healthier and better a product is for consumption and the fewer the star the less safe it is.

References

Devi, A., Eyles, H., Rayner, M., Mhurchu, C. N., Swinburn, B., Lonsdale-Cooper, E., & Vandevijvere, S. (2014). Nutritional quality, labelling and promotion of breakfast cereals on the New Zealand market. Appetite, 81, 253-260.

Graham, D. J., Orquin, J. L., & Visschers, V. H. (2012). Eye tracking and nutrition label use: A review of the literature and recommendations for label enhancement. Food Policy, 37(4), 378-382.

Hieke, S., & Taylor, C. R. (2012). A critical review of the literature on nutritional labeling. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 46(1), 120-156.

Hughes, C., Wellard, L., Lin, J., Suen, K. L., & Chapman, K. (2013). Regulating health claims on food labels using nutrient profiling: what will the proposed standard mean in the Australian supermarket? Public health nutrition, 16(12), 2154-2161.

Morley, B., Scully, M., Martin, J., Niven, P., Dixon, H., & Wakefield, M. (2013). What types of nutrition menu labelling lead consumers to select less energy-dense fast food? An experimental study. Appetite, 67, 8-15.

Newman, C. L., Howlett, E., & Burton, S. (2014). Shopper response to front-of-package nutrition labeling programs: potential consumer and retail store benefits. Journal of Retailing, 90(1), 13-26.

Watson, W. L., Kelly, B., Hector, D., Hughes, C., King, L., Crawford, J. ... & Chapman, K. (2014). Can front-of-pack labelling schemes guide healthier food choices? Australian shoppers’ responses to seven labelling formats. Appetite, 72, 90-97.