Customer claims Woolworths 'lied' to him about health ratings, considers boycotting the retailer
By
- Replies 12
In recent years, there has been an increased focus on healthy eating and living. This has led to many retailers providing health star ratings for the food and drink products they sell.
Health star ratings are a voluntary system that rates the nutritional content of packaged food and drinks. The ratings are based on an algorithm that takes into account energy, saturated fat, sodium, sugar, and protein content.
The system was developed by the Australian government in conjunction with the food industry and is now used in many countries around the world.
The aim of health star ratings is to help consumers make informed choices about the food they eat. However, there has been some criticism of the system, with some claiming that it is confusing and that it does not always accurately reflect the ‘healthiness’ of a product.
Such has been the case for one Woolworths customer who discovered two distinct health star ratings on the same product, prompting him to seek an explanation from the retailer.
After noticing the 5-star health rating, Aarron Ralston decided that the supermarket chain's house-brand tropical juice was a decent choice for his daughter and made several purchases of it on Saturday from the Waverley Gardens store in Victoria.
'We always buy going off the ratings so to give our daughters the most healthy food and drink,' he explained.
But while he was unpacking his groceries, the 38-year-old was perplexed to see that one of the boxes had an entirely different rating.
Aaron added: 'We were and still are shocked to find the 2.5-star - that's a huge drop and we wouldn't buy that for our family.'
A shopper accused Woolworths of allegedly mislabeling the health star rating of its own brand of fruit juice. Credit: Facebook.
Frustrated, the Springvale resident took to Facebook and lodged a formal complaint with Woolworths.
'So which is correct? 2.5 stars or 5 stars? We bought a few packs of these assuming [they are] good for our daughter being 5-star but when checked 1 pack says 2.5 others say 5,' he wrote.
A Woolworths spokesperson claimed that the higher-rated carton was from an older batch and that the company's home-brand tropical juice received a new lower rating last year as a result of changes to the way ratings are determined.
'We display the Health Star Rating on a wide range of Woolworths branded products to help customers make informed choices,' the representative said.
'Following a review last year, the Federal Government has changed the way Health Star Ratings are calculated for certain products, including fruit juice.'
'The change includes a greater focus on sugar, including natural sugars, and has resulted in lower ratings for many fruit juices.'
'We've recently updated our own brand juice labels to reflect the new ratings, however, there may still be products available in the old packaging as we sell through it.'
The aim of health star ratings is to help consumers make informed choices about the food they eat. Credit: https://healthstarrating.gov.au.
In light of recent developments, Mr Ralston claimed that he and his wife have now lost faith in the health rating system and that they are considering boycotting the retailer.
The customer raised: 'How can they now change it to be unhealthy after showing it to be a good choice?'
'Both my wife and I are not happy and feel very misled. How can we trust the health ratings at all now?'
'We will be taking them all back and don't know if we will shop there anymore as we have no trust in the products and feel lied to.'
It should be noted that the new grading system for non-dairy drinks, such as fruit juices, uses a new calculation that solely takes into account energy, sugar (including naturally occurring sugar in fruit), and the amount of fruit, vegetables, nuts, and legumes in a given product.
Manufacturers were given two years (ending November 2022), during which the government has granted them permission to alter their Health Star Rating labels in accordance with the new system.
So, there you have it, folks! What are your thoughts on this? Do you think the dad was in the right to be furious over the confusing labelling? Or should retailers put a label or at least a warning on the cartons about the change before displaying them to avoid confusion?
Health star ratings are a voluntary system that rates the nutritional content of packaged food and drinks. The ratings are based on an algorithm that takes into account energy, saturated fat, sodium, sugar, and protein content.
The system was developed by the Australian government in conjunction with the food industry and is now used in many countries around the world.
The aim of health star ratings is to help consumers make informed choices about the food they eat. However, there has been some criticism of the system, with some claiming that it is confusing and that it does not always accurately reflect the ‘healthiness’ of a product.
Such has been the case for one Woolworths customer who discovered two distinct health star ratings on the same product, prompting him to seek an explanation from the retailer.
After noticing the 5-star health rating, Aarron Ralston decided that the supermarket chain's house-brand tropical juice was a decent choice for his daughter and made several purchases of it on Saturday from the Waverley Gardens store in Victoria.
'We always buy going off the ratings so to give our daughters the most healthy food and drink,' he explained.
But while he was unpacking his groceries, the 38-year-old was perplexed to see that one of the boxes had an entirely different rating.
Aaron added: 'We were and still are shocked to find the 2.5-star - that's a huge drop and we wouldn't buy that for our family.'
A shopper accused Woolworths of allegedly mislabeling the health star rating of its own brand of fruit juice. Credit: Facebook.
Frustrated, the Springvale resident took to Facebook and lodged a formal complaint with Woolworths.
'So which is correct? 2.5 stars or 5 stars? We bought a few packs of these assuming [they are] good for our daughter being 5-star but when checked 1 pack says 2.5 others say 5,' he wrote.
A Woolworths spokesperson claimed that the higher-rated carton was from an older batch and that the company's home-brand tropical juice received a new lower rating last year as a result of changes to the way ratings are determined.
'We display the Health Star Rating on a wide range of Woolworths branded products to help customers make informed choices,' the representative said.
'Following a review last year, the Federal Government has changed the way Health Star Ratings are calculated for certain products, including fruit juice.'
'The change includes a greater focus on sugar, including natural sugars, and has resulted in lower ratings for many fruit juices.'
'We've recently updated our own brand juice labels to reflect the new ratings, however, there may still be products available in the old packaging as we sell through it.'
The aim of health star ratings is to help consumers make informed choices about the food they eat. Credit: https://healthstarrating.gov.au.
In light of recent developments, Mr Ralston claimed that he and his wife have now lost faith in the health rating system and that they are considering boycotting the retailer.
The customer raised: 'How can they now change it to be unhealthy after showing it to be a good choice?'
'Both my wife and I are not happy and feel very misled. How can we trust the health ratings at all now?'
'We will be taking them all back and don't know if we will shop there anymore as we have no trust in the products and feel lied to.'
It should be noted that the new grading system for non-dairy drinks, such as fruit juices, uses a new calculation that solely takes into account energy, sugar (including naturally occurring sugar in fruit), and the amount of fruit, vegetables, nuts, and legumes in a given product.
Manufacturers were given two years (ending November 2022), during which the government has granted them permission to alter their Health Star Rating labels in accordance with the new system.
So, there you have it, folks! What are your thoughts on this? Do you think the dad was in the right to be furious over the confusing labelling? Or should retailers put a label or at least a warning on the cartons about the change before displaying them to avoid confusion?