Are Health Stars making us healthier?

Are Health Stars making us healthier? That’s the intent behind those little star ratings that you find on food and drinks in the supermarket and convenience stores. The Health Star Rating system was introduced as a voluntary scheme in 2014 to try and tackle a slew of diet related diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. So it’s worth reflecting on whether they are actually meeting their objective or not, 10 years down the track. And if not – then why, what are we doing wrong, and what do we need to do to fix it? In this episode of the Dental as Anything podcast I speak to Dr Alexandra Jones from the Georges Institute about food and health policy, its role in improving health outcomes and the tension between good policy and accusations of a nanny state.