What are the Coca‑Cola health star ratings
Coca‑Cola has supported the adoption of the Health Star Rating (HSR) initiative since it was established in 2014 and brands across our portfolio have featured the voluntary HSR energy icon since then.
We started rolling out the star icon on our packaging in 2021. All our products with their star rating can be found here.
The move to the star icon is another example of how we continue to provide transparent and clear nutrition information about our drinks.
Q. What are Health Star Ratings?
The Health Star Rating (HSR) is a voluntary Front-of-Pack labelling system that rates the overall nutritional profile of packaged food and drink and assigns a rating from ½ a star to 5 stars. It provides a quick and easy way to compare similar packaged products.
More information about the system can be found at www.healthstarrating.gov.au.
Q. How are the star ratings calculated?
For most products, the number of stars received is determined by the amount of energy, saturated fat, sugar and sodium they contain, balanced against positive nutrients like protein and fibre, and any vegetable and fruit content.
When it comes to non-dairy beverages stars are determined by sugar and energy content and can also be balanced with positive points from fruit or vegetable content. The only exceptions to this are water and unsweetened flavoured water, which receive automatic star ratings of 5 and 4.5 respectively.
Q. How do I use it to accurately compare products?
Health Star Ratings are designed to provide an easy way to compare similar food types when you are shopping, to help you make healthier dietary choices.
They allow you to compare similar types of products based on their nutrition profile, such as when you are choosing between breakfast cereal options or between different types of beverages. The system isn’t designed to compare different kinds of products – you should not use them to compare products in different categories like cereal and yoghurt, for example.
The Health Star Rating is only one of the tools available to help you make healthier choices, and it’s important to consider the recommendations provided by the Australian Dietary Guidelines. More detailed information about the nutritional make-up and contents of a product are also always available on pack in the Nutrition Information Panel (or NIP) and the ingredient list.
Q. Why is it important for food and drinks to carry the HSR?
Easy to understand nutrition information is essential in helping people make informed choices about their diets. As Australia’s largest provider of non-alcoholic beverages, it’s our responsibility to provide transparent information about our products so people can choose what’s right for them.
Q. Why do drinks like no-sugar soft drinks have a higher star rating than, for example, some juices?
Juices can receive between 2.5 and 4 stars. Juice containing higher levels of sugar will receive a lower star rating. As an example, while our Keri Orange Juice is 99.9% orange juice, it naturally contains 8.6g sugar per 100mL and therefore receives 3 stars. Diet Coke is sugar free so receives 3.5 stars.
It’s important to remember that all foods can have a place in the diet and low and no sugar drinks can be a good option for people looking to reduce the amount of sugar they consume.
Q. Is it compulsory for drinks to feature the Health Stars Rating?
No, the HSR initiative is voluntary. However, we believe we have a responsibility to provide transparent, easy to understand nutrition information to consumers and have chosen to voluntarily feature the HSR energy icon across our portfolio since it was introduced in 2014.
Given the recent changes to the HSR system we started to transition to the star icon in 2021 on our packs as the Government has retired the energy icon.
Q. When will the HSR feature on pack?
Coca‑Cola has featured the voluntary HSR energy icon across the portfolio since the initial HSR integration in 2014.
We began featuring the star icon on pack in 2021. You can also check the star rating of your favourite product online, here.
It can take some time to change labels, the Government allowed two years for companies to transition packaging.
Q. What else are you doing to make labels easier to understand?
Transitioning to the HSR star icon is just one example of how we continue to provide transparent and clear nutrition information about our drinks.
In 2017 we introduced serves-per-pack labelling to inform people how many serves are in a bottle. In 2018 we also introduced voluntarily on-pack labelling to highlight energy and sugars on nutrition information panels.
Q. What else is Coca‑Cola doing to help people manage their sugar intake?
Since 2015 Coca‑Cola has reduced the sugar in 25 products, including our biggest selling brands. In 2018 we also committed to an industry wide pledge to reduce the sugar in non-alcoholic beverages sold by 10% by 2020 and 20% by 2025.
More than 40 per cent of our portfolio is now made up of water and beverages with additional nutritional benefits like Kombucha, providing more choice for people looking to reduce the amount of sugar they consume.
Q. Will Coke and your other soft drinks have the HSR star icon, or only your healthier products?
Our soft drinks including Coca‑Cola and Coca‑Cola No Sugar will be some of the first products to feature the HSR icon.
In the meantime, the voluntary HSR energy icon will continue to feature on front of pack, along with our other voluntary initiatives including the serves-per-pack icon and the nutrition information panel highlights for energy and sugar. You can also check the star rating of your favourite product here.