Food Composition
A food supply that delivers energy-dense products with high levels of salt, saturated fats and trans fats, in large portion sizes, is a major cause of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
The INFORMAS monitoring approach seeks to systematically collect information on high-level contextual factors influencing food composition and assess the energy density, salt, saturated fat, trans fats and portion sizes of highly processed foods for sale in retail outlets (with a focus on supermarkets and quick-service restaurants).
Regular surveys of food composition are proposed across geographies and over time using a pragmatic, standardised methodology.
Assoc. Prof. Jason Wu (Coordinator)
Associate Professor, University of New South Wales, Australia
Food Policy Group, The George Institute for Global Health, Australia
Email: Jason Wu
Professor Simone Pettigrew
Program Head, Food Policy Division
The George Institute for Global Health, Australia
Email: Simone Pettigrew
Dr. Jimmy Louie
University of Hong Kong
Email: Jimmy Louie
Dr. Elizabeth Dunford
University of North Carolina, USA & The George Institute, Australia
Email: Elizabeth Dunford
Alexandra Jones
Program Lead, Food Governance, Food Policy, The George Institute for Global Health, Australia
Conjoint Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney
Email: Alexandra Jones
Fraser Taylor
Managing Director, FoodSwitch, The George Institute for Global Health, Australia
Email: Fraser Taylor
Nadia Flexner
Associate Director of Research, Food and Nutrition Program, Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), US
University of Toronto, Canada
Email: Nadia Flexner
Read the INFORMAS paper online here
A new report FoodSwitch: ‘The State of the Food Supply’ has been released by The George Institute for Global Health. The annual ‘snapshot’ of the state of the Australian packaged food and beverage supply, looks at more than 32,000 products and highlights the changing nutritional composition of key Australian products and food categories.. Further, the report highlights the opportunities for food manufacturers and retailers to improve the nutritional quality of the food supply including:
- benchmarking the nutrient composition of their portfolios against best-in-category equivalents for levels of energy, saturated fat, sugar and sodium – food manufacturers must take responsibility for the healthiness of all the foods they are making and marketing.
- take a more active role in improving the healthiness of the Australian food supply. Retailers could set minimum requirements for the healthiness of the foods they stock and promote in-store and could provide Health Star Rating shelf labelling for all products – as the gatekeepers to Australian food purchases, retailers have the opportunity to help every Australian buy healthier.
The goal of this report is to support government, business and community efforts to help Australians eat better diets.
Media release for launch of The State of the Food Supply – Australia
This State of the Food Supply report provides the first annual snapshot of the healthiness of the NZ packaged food supply . Researchers analysed over 13 000 packaged foods and beverages in New Zealand supermarkets. Nutritional quality was assessed by the Health Star Rating, classified as core or discretionary, by level of processing and nutrient composition. The product portfolios of leading packaged food and beverage manufacturers were assessed.
Three-fifths of products had a Health Star Rating under 3.5, half are considered discretionary (not a necessary part of the diet) and seventy percent were considered ultra-processed.
The authors recommend the Health Star Ratings should be mandatory on labels, the Government should set targets for voluntary reformulation of composition, food manufacturers should increase the proportion of minimally processed foods in their portfolio and food retailers should continue to take an active role in improving the healthiness of the NZ food supply.
Press release August 17 2019: Nicola Shepheard | Media Adviser
Ultra-processed, unhealthy packaged food dominates – report
A new in-depth snapshot of packaged food sold in New Zealand supermarkets reveals most of it is unhealthy, with nearly 70 percent classified as ultra-processed.
Authors are calling for Health Star Rating labels to be made compulsory as part of a review of the system, and for Government to set food reformulation targets.
The inaugural New Zealand State of the Food Supply report, released today, is produced by a team of public health experts at the University of Auckland in collaboration with The George Institute in Global Health in Australia. It aims to support government, business and community efforts to help New Zealanders eat a better diet.
“A poor diet is the leading cause of early death in Aotearoa New Zealand, accounting for nearly 20 percent of illness and premature death,” says report author Dr Sally Mackay, a research fellow in the University’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.
“Getting healthier foods on the shelves makes it easier for consumers to make a healthy choice, which is key to curbing the obesity epidemic and diet-related ill health. But first we need to get a handle on what’s already available.”
Researchers analysed 13,000 packaged food items, and then looked at the largest food and beverage manufacturers by market share. They used the Health Star Rating (0.5-5 stars) criteria, which was jointly developed by New Zealand and Australian governments and the food industry, as well as identifying discretionary foods (ones not necessary in a person’s diet).
Key findings included:
- Half (52 percent) of packaged foods on supermarket shelves are discretionary foods.
- Over two-thirds (69 percent) of packaged foods were considered ultra-processed, that is ready-to-eat or drink items based on refined substances often with added sugar, salt, fat and additives.
- Nearly three-fifths (59 percent) of the packaged foods in our supermarkets have a low star rating (less than 3.5). Even in categories where you would expect healthier options, such as muesli bars and yoghurts, the mean rating is low.
- The healthiest major food category was packaged fruit and vegetables, with a mean rating of 3.9 (this includes added-sugar canned fruits and jams). The healthiest minor food categories were bread, breakfast cereals, couscous, pasta, rice, milk, nuts, fruit and vegetables, and meat alternatives.
- Non-alcoholic drinks generally had a low rating (mean 2.3) and were classified as discretionary (62 percent) and ultra-processed (85 percent). Fruit and vegetable juices and energy drinks had the highest mean sugar content (9.4ml/100ml and 7.4ml/100ml respectively).
- Only three companies had a mean rating of 3.5 or above – Sanitarium, McCain Foods and Sealord had an average of 4.1, 3.9 and 3.8 respectively.
Delving into food categories revealed that 79 percent of breads and 68 percent of breakfast cereals had a star rating at or above 3.5. High-performers included Goodman Fielder’s breads (88 percent at or above 3.5) and Nestle’s breakfast cereals (100 percent). Dairyworks had the lowest proportion of ultra-processed products (11 percent) across all categories.
“Companies like these show it’s possible to have healthier products within a category,” says Dr Mackay.
The report notes that most of the country’s top food manufacturers and retailers have made commitments to reformulate products to lower sodium levels, and many to lower sugar in specific food categories.
“But for any substantial change to happen across the food supply, we need the government to take real action by setting targets to lower salt, sugar and saturated fat content,” says Dr Mackay.
The report also argues industry uptake of the Health Star Rating has been too slow at only 21 percent of eligible products, and that all packaged food should be required to carry Health Star labelling.
Dr Mackay: “Consumers have the right to know the healthiness of the products they’re buying.”
The researchers will repeat the report annually to uncover trends. A separate analysis in Australia has revealed that while some Australian food and beverage makers improved the nutritional quality of their products between 2017 and 2018, over that period the average Health Star Rating dropped for half of the 33 largest manufacturers.
State of the Food Supply – New Zealand 2019