Just re-sharing a quiz that we put out last week! This is a fun quiz about Health Stars.
Health Stars are only displayed on packaged products (so the products in the quiz do not reflect a balanced diet). This usually lets us compare like for like, and identify:
a) how healthy a product is
b) how a product compares against others in its category (e.g. yoghurts are one category)
The trouble is, Health Stars are not displayed on every product, making it extremely different to compare products within categories. Do you think this is the case? Would you like to see Health Stars on more products? Take our quiz below:
I didnāt do very well in that quiz, as it was mostly about products Iāve never heard of and would never buy, and I wasnāt able to read the ānutrition factsā labels!
A lot of these arenāt products I buy either. With that being said, itās still important for us to be able to assess the healthiness of them using a quick and easy front of pack labelling system.
The nutrition information panel is an awesome tool (which I love) but for those of us who donāt understand it, canāt read it, or are time poor, Health Stars are a great alternative (when theyāre on packets!).
Only on the Apricot Bars did I get it wrong as I guess 1.5 stars and the correct one was 2.5 stars. Iād still say 1.5 was closer
I support a useful Health Star rating system but some items such as the old 4.5 stars for Milo because it had to have added skim milk skews the usefulness.
Youāll be happy to know that the āas preparedā rule that youāre referring to in the comment above has been changed! Thatās great news for us - Milo can no longer game the system with the skim milk trick.
Also did poorlyā¦never bought any of the products and only seen most on the shelves at the local supermarket. Not the sort of foods we buy (with exception of yoghurts which we buy at a local fruit and vegetable grocer (only milk, culture and pectin).
Looking at a package by itself it is difficult to acertain what is the healthiest. If the nutritional panel was included, it would have made the quiz potentially easier.
We donāt buy from looking at the overall packaging aloneā¦use ingredients list and nutritional panel as well.
It would seem that we have a healthy audience, because I didnāt know one of those products either.
Guessing got me successfully through to lasgne where, apart from the yoghurt, it all went pear shaped.
The problem is that we are relying on the food manufaturers to be ethical in providing us with information on the contents and health star ratings. Problem is that too often ethics go out the window when the question of profits walk in the door. There is no ābig stickā that would make food manufacturers think twice about being rather exigious with the truth.
Thanks @LindaPrzhedetsky.
I was feeling great till I finished the quiz and realised just how much other junk food is out there. Yes the test show just how Hard it can be to know with some products if they are healthy and also good value.
I think I guessed two right. No science, just blind faith. It did not help.
P.s. Iām all for products which would reasonably be considered discretionary being banned from being able to display health stars. Give them a no rating, not healthy symbol, or as discussed some where on previous Choice discussions a reverse score. IE perhaps a score of one says eat very little infrequently, a score of 5 no more than one handful a day. Hand size calibration optional.
How do you sell a reverse scoring system for such foods.
Ask Gruen if they can provide the answer? Add agencies seem to be able to sell anything.
@LindaPrzhedetsky, @BrendanMays, Choice should consider developing a travelling kiosk style game āboothā with this and similar quizzes and consumer focused entertainment ala Checkout or Shonkys style. Since it would have to be funded a pilot could also sell Choice subscriptions to see how it goes.
It could be offputting to shops and manufacturers so might be best used at local festivals or in public areas of shopping centres rather than in-shops. Schools - many politics but is there a Choice nutrition lesson plan for those schools so interested? Idealistically imagine purpose built quiz machines in the yoghurt isle, etc!
Adding the quizzes to the Choice home page as you have been doing is a good one but has comparatively limited visibility.
Most of these products would not be part of my diet anyway. Muesli bars are very dense in kilojoules. I would want to see the nutrition panel rather than the stars, which are being expertly manipulated by the manufacturers and are practically useless as an accurate indicator of the āgoodnessā of a product. Most people still think five stars means the product is good for you. And the plain popcornā¦ how many people do you think would eat it plain? They would probably roll it in sugar or icing etc to give it a flavour.
