So fresh fruit is bad for you?

Administering the New Zealand/Aotearoa diet was never meant to be easy but this is getting ridiculous. It seems that under the rules being drafted by transtasman food regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand (ANZFA), apples, pears and most stonefruit will be disqualified from health claims because their natural sugar levels exceed 16g per serving. Of course most media outlets ran the story as a 'shock/horror/isn't the bureacracy stupid' item, but the arbitrary line is clearly drawn in a draft document: it's open for debate, although no such debate seems to be of any great interest to Joe and Joanne Public. Submissions on the draft are open until March 31, with standards finalised by the end of the year. Here's a draft report on health policy and nutrition from ANZFA, compiled in May of last year.