Stars see dairy cheesed off

Despite containing key nutrients, the humble cheese risks being avoided by Australian families as a result of the Government’s flawed Health Star Rating System.

According to Executive Director and dietitian Janine Waller of the Australian Dairy Products Federation (ADPF), the Health Star Rating system is meant to help people make healthier choices, but under the current system, consumers are led to believe cheese is unhealthy, on par with junk or treat foods – and nothing much looks like changing with the proposed revisions.

“With State and Federal Ministers meeting later this week to agree on what a revised Health Star Rating system could look like; I strongly urge them to defer a decision and commit to reviewing the low ratings for cheese.

“Cheese is an integral part of the dairy food group, which alongside grains, vegetables and legumes, lean meats and fruits, is considered a five food group.”

“The Australian Dietary Guidelines state that five food groups are those that should be consumed regularly as part of a balanced diet,” Ms Waller said.

Despite being a five food group, dairy is the second most under-consumed after vegetables – with 90 per cent of Australians not consuming their recommended serves of dairy each day.

“The under-consumption of dairy has serious health consequences, resulting in 50 per cent of Australians aged two years and over not meeting their daily calcium requirements.”

The serious under-consumption of dairy is cause for concern, and the Government’s much vaunted Health Star Ratings system needs to accurately reflect what the experts say to ensure consumer demand for nutritious food.

Over half of all cheese products are currently rating at less than 3 stars out of a total of five stars. This is because the algorithm that goes into rating cheese is flawed, failing to take into consideration the important nutrients of cheese, portion sizes as well as the way cheese is consumed by Australians.

“Cheese is not an indulgent food nor is it one that is usually eaten in excess. In fact, those that do eat cheese daily usually eat only one third of the recommended daily serve – around a third of a small match box.

“The Heart Foundation recently updated their dairy guidelines, recommending that full fat cheese be considered as an option for healthy Australians.

“We see no reason why cheese continues to get such a bad rap.”

“Adding a slice of cheese to your lunchtime sandwich gives you a boost of nutrients and energy to help get you through the afternoon,” Ms Waller said.

This week Federal, State and Territory Ministers will meet as part of the Australian and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation to discuss the future state of the Health Star Rating system.

One of the decisions will be whether to proceed with the controversial ‘Calculator 2’ regime, which would see more than half of everyday nutritious household cheese products rate less than 3 stars, with some scoring as low as 1 star.

While the Ministers have rightly recognised that cheese is scoring a lower than necessary Health Star Rating; this problem is yet to be resolved.

“We are asking Ministers to defer a decision on the revised Health Star Rating system until the low ratings for five food group cheeses are addressed.

“If you look at a school lunchbox, it is often full of very sweet foods with little nutritional value – think jams, snack bars and chips. On the other hand, cheese is a naturally nutritious food that is severely under consumed in Australia,” Ms Waller said.

Ms Waller believes that it is in the interests of governments to boost consumption of dairy, not inhibit it with out of date Health Star Ratings on pack.

“If Australians increased their intake of dairy foods to the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommendations, research has shown at least $2 billion could be saved from the annual healthcare budget.

“Dairy consumption is down and needs to be boosted. So many independent bodies, including the Heart Foundation, have concluded that cheese consumption is healthy. So why is cheese being unfairly penalised – especially as it is a five-food group food just like milk and yoghurt?

“I strongly urge Ministers at their meeting on Friday to defer a decision on the Health Star Rating system and commit to improving the Health Star Ratings for cheese, for the health and wellbeing of all Australians,” Ms Waller said.