Breaking with forum protocol not to comment on internal workings, federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud called the decision “madness” in a statement following the meeting.
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Forum members “failed the leadership test today by retaining a nonsensical health star rating system,” he said.
“How can anyone believe that the health star rating for drinks with no nutritional value should be higher than 100 per cent fruit and vegetable juices?”
But health leaders and advocates have welcomed the decision as a victory for public health and consumers.
Alexandra Jones, research fellow in food policy and law at the George Institute for Global Health, said the decision “reflects the science that juices aren’t healthy” and is “a huge win for public health”.
Dr Jones said the claim that all juice will now score below drinks like Diet Coke is false. Rather, “what will happen now is the best juices will score four, and they’ll be scaled down from there”.
An independent review found that water is the only drink that should score five stars, she said.
Matthew Hopcraft, CEO of the Australian Dental Association’s Victoria branch, said there is “more work to be done” to improve the health star rating system, “and we agree with Minister Littleproud that diet soft drinks should not receive a high health star rating.
“But it is also important to recognise that we have significant public health problems in Australia, with tooth decay and obesity affecting too many of our young children, and public health solutions are necessary to help fix these problems.”
Minister Littleproud said the rating reduction would impact demand for juice and have flow-on effects to farmers.
“States and territories who supported this including Queensland, Northern Territory, ACT and Victoria have let down our farmers, consumers, and Australia’s $800 million juice industry.
“They have made a mockery of the rating system and have ignored Australian Government and industry concerns,” Mr Littleproud said.
