In mid-February 2026, Food Ministers from Australia and New Zealand agreed to move toward mandatory Health Star Ratings (HSR) on all packaged foods.

While making the scheme mandatory is a significant step forward, it must go hand in hand with strengthening and refining the Health Star Rating system.

Addressing anomalies – to better align with nutrition science – would help ensure the HSR delivers on its promise to support healthier food choices.

The current HSR algorithm, adopted in 2014, inadvertently penalises nuts and nut-containing foods by allocating ‘negative points’ due to their inherent energy and saturated fat content.

This approach is out of step with the substantial body of evidence supporting the role of nuts within healthy dietary patterns (1).

Convincing evidence shows that the energy (kilojoule) density of nuts is not associated with weight gain (2). And their saturated fat content (less than 15% of the total fat in nuts) is offset by a much higher proportion of health-promoting unsaturated fats.

Despite strong evidence that nut consumption supports overall health and weight management, intake in Australia is low – around 5g/day, compared with the health-promoting target of 30g/day (3). This shortfall is driven, in part, by calorie- and fat-related misconceptions.

So, there is a clear need for effective policy measures to improve nut consumption in Australia.

Modest, evidence-based refinements to the Health Star Rating algorithm would better align the system with contemporary nutrition science, and could help close the gap in nut intake, and deliver meaningful public health and economic benefits.