When the tide turns on Health Star Ratings: will you be ready?
Updated 26 May 2026 | By Food360
If you make or sell packaged food in Australia or New Zealand, the era of voluntary Health Star Ratings is quietly coming to an end. The Health Star Rating (HSR) system is still technically voluntary today, but if you look at what regulators and ministers are doing, the tide is clearly turning towards making HSR a routine part of front-of-pack labelling for most packaged foods.
In February 2026, Food Ministers formally asked Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to prepare a proposal on mandating HSR in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. FSANZ has now picked this up as Proposal P1067 - Health Star Rating System, and on 7 May 2026 it opened the first round of public consultation on whether HSR should be mandated for foods sold in Australia and New Zealand. Submissions are open until 21 June 2026, with further consultation flagged as the proposal progresses.
Nothing has changed yet in the Code. But the direction of travel is hard to ignore.
Why ministers are pushing this now
When HSR was refreshed in 2020, ministers agreed that the voluntary scheme would be reviewed against a target: 70% of eligible products carrying HSR by November 2025. Uptake has fallen well short of that target.
Public health groups have stepped up pressure, pointing to evidence that mandatory interpretive labels can drive modest but meaningful product reformulation and help consumers choose products lower in salt, sugar and saturated fat. Consumer polling suggests strong community support: a 2024 Cancer Council/YouGov poll indicated around four in five Australians favour a mandatory HSR system.
Taken together, there is a clear political appetite to make HSR a standard feature on the supermarket shelf.
What Proposal P1067 means for HSR in practice
Under Proposal P1067, FSANZ is examining whether the Food Standards Code should be amended to require most pre-packaged foods sold in Australia and New Zealand to carry an HSR symbol on the front of pack. FSANZ's own communication is clear on a few points that matter for industry:
HSR remains voluntary for now - no products are legally required to display HSR today.
FSANZ expects its assessment work on P1067 to run for around 12-18 months, including at least two opportunities for public comment before any final advice is sent to ministers.
If FSANZ ultimately recommends mandating HSR, and ministers agree, a transition period will be built into any Code amendment, with the transitional arrangements themselves open to consultation.
In other words: the wave isn't breaking yet, but you can see the set lining up.
Don't wait for the last-minute rush
For many food businesses, HSR is more than a label icon. It's a signal that interacts with your entire product and packaging strategy.
If HSR becomes mandatory, you may need to:
Calculate HSRs across your portfolio
Decide how HSR sits alongside existing claims and front-of-pack devices
Navigate reformulation decisions where a small change could move a product from, say, 2.5 to 3 stars
Plan artwork changeovers across the portfolio
All of that takes time. Reformulation, sensory testing, shelf-life checks and updated packaging can easily stretch over 12-24 months, especially if you are competing for limited technical and design resources.
“Waiting for a final ministerial decision before you act on HSR is a high‑risk, low‑control strategy.”
2026-27: your low-pressure planning window
A more strategic approach is to use this consultation and assessment period as a low-pressure planning window:
Run a baseline HSR scan across your range to identify low-scoring products and categories.
Build HSR scenarios into your NPD and reformulation roadmap, focusing on commercially realistic changes that can lift star ratings without undermining taste or brand position.
Align potential HSR artwork with your existing packaging refresh cycles, so you're not forced into a rushed, one-off relabel if and when HSR becomes compulsory.
Think of it like surf conditions: you watch the sets, you position early, and you start paddling before the wave hits. The businesses that do that with HSR now are far less likely to be scrambling when the tide turns.
How Food360 can help
Food360 is designed to help food businesses navigate exactly this kind of regulatory shift. We work with clients to:
Model HSR across portfolios and identify quick-win improvement options
Integrate HSR into broader nutrition, claims and labelling strategies
Support reformulation planning with a clear view of Code requirements and technical constraints
Coordinate with your design and packaging teams so regulatory changes are built into your normal update cycles
If you'd like to understand what P1067 could mean for your products - and position your brand to ride the HSR wave instead of getting dumped by it - now is a good time to start the conversation.
Disclaimer: This article is general information based on publicly available FSANZ material as at 26 May 2026. It does not constitute regulatory or legal advice. For tailored advice on your products, please contact Food360.