Discount Trolley health rating explained: what does Dete's badge mean?

What the Discount Trolley health rating is

Short answer: it's a badge from Dete, our koala, that shows how healthy a product is at a glance. The number runs from 0.5 to 5 in half steps, and a word sits beside it. Tap the badge and the app shows what raises the rating and what lowers it, per 100 g.

You'll find it on product cards, in search results, on your shopping list and on saved items. It's on the barcode scanner's result card too. Search also has a sort called Health rating: best first, which brings the higher rated products to the top.

One thing up front. This is Discount Trolley's own rating. It's not the government's Health Star Rating, and the app never shows the stars printed on the pack.

• A badge from 0.5 to 5, in half steps.
• One word beside it, so you can read it fast.
• Tap it to see what raises and lowers the rating.

What the four words mean

The number is the score. The word tells you how to read it.

The rating compares like with like, so the word tells you how a product stacks up against similar products. A core food is never called a Treat.

• Top pick in its category: among the best choices of its kind.
• Good: a sound everyday choice.
• Now and then: fine sometimes, or in smaller amounts.
• Treat: a discretionary food in the Australian Dietary Guidelines, best kept to sometimes.

How it uses the official Health Star Rating tables

The rating starts with the nutrition panel. Its base is the nutrient tables the Australian Government publishes for the Health Star Rating system, from the HSR Implementation Guide v9 (December 2025).

We score per 100 g or 100 mL, as sold. Some packs rate a product as prepared, so the badge can differ from any stars on the box.

Then we add our own calculations on top: evidence-based adjustments drawn from the ingredients list. Nutrition always comes first.

What you see is one Discount Trolley score. The government's number, its star graphic and its words never appear in the app.

• Base: the nutrient tables behind the government's Health Star Rating.
• Scored per 100 g or 100 mL, as sold.
• Our own adjustments on top. Nutrition comes first.

What we look at

Nutrition first. Energy, saturated fat, sugars and sodium count against a product. Fibre, protein and fruit, vegetable, nut and legume content count for it.

Then the ingredients. The rating checks for added sugars, isolates, wholegrain, signs of ultra-processing, additives by serve and processed meat. It checks sodium against the Healthy Food Partnership targets, and it has its own rules for juice, toddler snacks and discretionary foods.

The app shows you the reasons, not the maths. Take Uncle Tobys Porridge Oats Original 1kg at Coles. Its sheet lists protein, fibre, simple ingredients and wholegrain as raising the rating, with energy as the one thing lowering it.

• Against: energy, saturated fat, sugars, sodium.
• For: fibre, protein, fruit, vegetables, nuts and legumes.
• Then ingredient checks, from added sugars to processed meat.

What you see when you tap the badge

Tap the badge and the Health rating sheet opens. Depending on the product, it shows What raises it, What lowers it, What decides it, Also worth knowing, Not counted against it, Per serve and About the data.

Two more sections sit at the end. Sources lists every source behind the rating, and How we rate is a plain guide to how it all works.

On Product Details the rating sits right under Dete's buy tip, so you can read the price and the rating on one screen.

• Reasons per 100 g, up and down.
• Where the nutrition panel came from.
• Sources and a How we rate guide.

When a product isn't rated

A product needs a usable nutrition panel. Without one it shows Not rated yet, and nothing is ever guessed. Panels read from a label image are read twice, and they must agree and add up before they're used. If a panel doesn't add up, you'll see Not rated: checking the data.

Some things are never scored. That covers special purpose foods such as infant formula, food for infants, toddler milks, meal replacements and sports foods, plus herbs, spices, tea and coffee. Alcohol isn't rated either. It shows the NHMRC guideline instead.

TGA products such as sunscreens, medicines and vitamins are never scored, ranked or compared. Cosmetics get an Ingredient check, and some products show Health rating not applicable.

• No usable panel means Not rated yet.
• Panels from label images are read twice.
• Infant, sports and TGA products are never scored.

Where the data comes from

Each rating comes from the retailer's listing, a label image, or the same product at another retailer, and the rating tells you which. For Uncle Tobys Porridge Oats Original 1kg at Coles, About the data says the panel came from the same barcode at Woolworths.

Ratings refresh overnight. Labels change, so check the pack when it matters to you.

No brand pays for a rating or for its place in a list.

• Retailer listing, label image or the same product elsewhere.
• Refreshed overnight.
• No brand pays for a rating.

Our sources

These are the official sources the app lists under Sources. Each product's sheet shows the ones behind its own reasons.

• HSR Implementation Guide v9 (healthstarrating.gov.au, December 2025)
• Australian Dietary Guidelines (NHMRC)
• WHO sugars guideline
• Healthy Food Partnership
• FSANZ, food additives
• IARC
• TGA
• Cancer Council

Using the health rating on your weekly shop

Use it the way you'd use a unit price: a quick read across the shelf. Search for what you need, sort by Health rating: best first, then check the price on the ones that suit you.

The badge also follows the product onto your shopping list and saved items, so you don't have to look it up twice. For the price side of the same shop, read how to use unit prices to find the cheapest groceries, or see how to scan a barcode to compare grocery prices.

• Sort search by Health rating: best first.
• Check the unit price on the ones you like.
• The badge stays on your list and saved items.

What the health rating is not

The health rating is Discount Trolley's own rating. It's not the government's Health Star Rating, and it isn't endorsed by FSANZ, the NHMRC, the TGA or the Australian Government. It's a guide to help you compare products, not medical or dietary advice.

Woolworths, Coles, ALDI, IGA, Harris Farm, Priceline and Chemist Warehouse where data is available. Not affiliated with those stores. The shelf can differ from the screen. Live prices need a connection.

New to the app? Read what Discount Trolley does, or how to use Discount Trolley before your weekly shop.

• Our own rating, not the government's.
• Not endorsed by FSANZ, the NHMRC, the TGA or the Australian Government.
• A guide, not medical or dietary advice.

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