Health stars may become compulsory, and Indian grocery importers should be watching
The health star rating on packets in Coles and Woolworths is voluntary. Australia’s food ministers have asked the regulator to prepare a proposal that would make it compulsory on most packaged food, and that proposal is now under assessment.
Whether it becomes a rule remains open. Ministers kept the final decision for themselves, and FSANZ has said a second round of public consultation will follow if the proposal progresses to a draft regulatory measure, which is the stage at which a small importer or a community organisation can put a view on the record.
What ministers decided
At the Food Ministers’ Meeting on 13 February 2026, ministers agreed by majority “to request FSANZ prepare a Proposal on mandating the HSR system in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code”.
They did so because the voluntary approach had fallen well short. Uptake of the health star rating reached 39 per cent in Australia and 36 per cent in New Zealand, against a target FSANZ’s review page states precisely as 70 per cent of intended products displaying the rating by 14 November 2025.
Ministers also noted the review’s finding that there is no clear benefit to mandating added sugars labelling, and made no change to the Nutrition Information Panel, the review having concluded that regulatory changes to the panel are not required at this time given consideration of mandating the rating system. The subject is not closed: ministers asked the Food Regulation Standing Committee to consider further how sugars information can be better provided to consumers, in line with updated dietary guidelines when available.
What the proposal covers
Proposal P1067 would require the Health Star Rating symbol on most packaged foods for retail sale where a nutrition information panel is required, standardise the design and placement of the symbol, and mandate a prescribed algorithm.
The first call for submissions ran from 7 May to 5 July 2026. FSANZ has since reported more than 380 submissions received, and said that if the proposal progresses to a draft regulatory measure there will be a second opportunity for public consultation, scheduled for later in 2026.
Which Indian grocery products would be caught
The trigger is the nutrition information panel, and the Food Standards Code does not require one on everything.
Subsection 5(2) of Standard 1.2.8 exempts a list of foods unless a claim requiring nutrition information is made about them, and several of the exempt categories are the backbone of an Indian grocery: herbs, spices and herbal infusions, vinegar, salt and salt substitutes, tea and coffee including instant, and fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry and fish comprising a single ingredient or category of ingredients.
A separate exemption covers food in a small package, other than food for infants, but small package is a defined term meaning a package with a surface area of less than 100 square centimetres. That is sachet territory, not the ordinary grocery packet, and an importer reading the exemption loosely would be planning for a rule that does not exist.
So turmeric powder would fall outside the trigger, and so would a packet of loose tea, in each case provided no claim requiring nutrition information is made about them. A 200 gram packet is not exempt merely for being modest in size.
What would be caught is the processed end of the aisle. Biscuits and snack mixes, namkeen, instant mixes and ready meals, sauces, pastes and chutneys, sweetened beverages and breakfast items. That is a narrower slice than the whole channel, and it is the branded, packaged part of it.
Within that slice the cost falls unevenly. A multinational relabelling a biscuit range can spread the expense across a large production run and is likely to have regulatory staff. A small importer supplying independent grocers is unlikely to have either. Artwork changes, an algorithm calculation for each product and new print runs are the work involved, and nobody has published what that would cost this channel.
What a health star rating would say about the food
The Health Star Rating scores packaged foods using risk nutrients including saturated fat, sodium and sugars, along with total energy, offset by positive components including fibre, protein and fruit, vegetable, nut and legume content. Ratings are calculated on a consistent measure of either 100 grams or 100 millilitres, and foods are scored within categories so that like is compared with like.
The fixed measure is worth understanding before the symbol appears. A health star rating is calculated per 100 grams or 100 millilitres, not per serve, and foods such as pickles, chutneys and spice pastes are eaten in quantities far below that measure.
How a shopper reads a rating on a condiment, given that the score is calculated on a fixed weight and within a category, is a question an importer could put to FSANZ in a submission. It applies to any cuisine built on condiments.
The window that is open
A consultation is one of the points at which a small business can put a view before a rule is settled.
The first round drew more than 380 submissions. A second is scheduled for later in 2026 if the proposal advances. An importer, a grocers’ association or a community health organisation with a view on transition periods, small business exemptions or the treatment of condiment categories has somewhere to lodge it.
The alternative to a submission is learning what the rule says when the artwork has to change.
