Dodgy canteen logos misleading consumers, says CHOICE

CHOICE has called for an end to misleading labelling that uses self-made school canteen certifications to provide ‘health halos’ for nutrient-poor and processed foods.

A CHOICE investigation found 17 different industry-made certifications that have allegedly manipulated school canteen guidelines to imply that junk food is a good option for school lunch boxes.

“These certifications claiming to be ‘school canteen approved’ are leading parents into believing products with these logos are a healthier option for their kids,” says CHOICE spokesperson Tom Godfrey.

School canteen guidelines exist to inform canteen managers on how to prepare their menus. An amber rating in a canteen setting means they should be ‘selected carefully’. Godfrey said that using these ratings outside of the canteen context can have the effect of pushing unhealthy options.

CHOICE’s research found that 43% of parents believe that products with these logos are healthier than similar products without logos. 42% would be more likely to choose a product with one of these logos than a similar product without the logo.

CHOICE further found that these logos predominantly appear on processed snacks with little or no nutritional value. Many products using the logos, such as Arnott’s 100s & 1000s Tiny Teddies, Monster Noodle Snacks and Parker’s Pretzel Snacks, only get a health star rating of two or less.

“School canteen-approved logos are essentially acting as health halos for processed, packaged foods. With one in four children in Australia overweight or obese, we need labels that make it easier to make healthier decisions.”

Godfrey explained that the labels being used are created by food manufacturers themselves and aren’t accredited or approved by an independent body. But 43% of parents believe the logos have been independently approved by an authority or government body, and more than one third think that the use of these logos by food manufacturers is regulated.

CHOICE has launched a campaign calling on food manufacturers to remove these self-made certifications from their products. It wants to see food companies replace these certifications with health star ratings in order to enable consumers to make fair and easy comparisons between food products.

Dr Kieron Rooney, nutritionist and senior lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney, has been vocal in his criticism of how food companies are using canteen guidelines to market products.

“It is inappropriate for food manufacturers to take a government policy that was put in place to supposedly protect children’s health and manipulate it in an attempt to ‘health wash’ their discretionary food product,” said Dr Rooney.