Overview
The Food Ministers’ Meeting met on 13 February 2026 to consider food regulation and policy matters.
The Hon Rebecca White MP chaired the meeting with The Hon Chris Picton MP as Deputy Chair. The members of the meeting are the Australian and New Zealand ministers responsible for food.
Observers: Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), Australian Local Government Association
Key outcomes
The key outcomes were about:
Health Star Rating system
Ministers noted the Health Star Rating (HSR) HSR Monitoring Report for Year 5 (2025), which confirmed that the final uptake target of 70% of intended products displaying the HSR by November 2025 was not met, with uptake at 39% in Australia and 36% in New Zealand. Ministers expressed concern that the low uptake has limited the system’s effectiveness and undermined consumer trust.
Ministers also considered consumer research showing strong support for the HSR, but persistent misunderstandings about how to use it—particularly that the HSR is only intended for comparing similar products.
Based on the evidence and voluntary uptake not reaching the agreed targets, by majority, ministers agreed to request FSANZ prepare a Proposal on mandating the HSR system in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. Preparatory work from FSANZ indicated no regulatory barriers to mandating the system, subject to statutory requirements being met.
FSANZ will now undertake two rounds of public consultation to inform the report back to ministers for a final decision.
Ministers also agreed to publish the HSR Uptake Report and the Consumer Research Report on the HSR website to support transparency and public confidence.
Nutrition information panel review
Ministers noted the completion of FSANZ’s holistic review of the Nutrition Information Panel (NIP), which confirmed that regulatory changes to the NIP are not required at this time, given consideration of mandating the HSR system.
The review confirmed that the current NIP requirements continue to meet their purpose of providing consistent and meaningful nutrition information, balancing consumer needs with international alignment and industry practicality. Ministers noted that the review found no clear benefit to mandating “added sugars” labelling. Ministers requested that the Food Regulation Standing Committee (FRSC) further consider how sugars information can be better provided to consumers, in line with updated dietary guidelines when available.
Ministers acknowledged opportunities identified by the review to improve consumer understanding of nutrition information across the food system, including education initiatives, strengthened industry guidance, and the way mandatory Health Star Rating labelling would make nutrition information easier for consumers to understand.
FSANZ will publish the NIP Review outcomes following ministers’ consideration.
Next meeting
The food ministers will next meet in May 2026. Until then, find out more about food regulation activities.
Contact
If you have any queries, please contact the Food Regulation Secretariat.