Paul Hutchison MP National Party Food Safety Spokesman

17 January 2006

Food Standards fiasco needs sorting out

The Government must act to defend its Apples in Schools programme and ensure Food Standards Australia and New Zealand adequately defines the nutritional value of fruit, says National's Food Safety spokesman, Paul Hutchison.

"It is ludicrous that the Government has just promoted an Apples in Schools initiative to encourage healthy eating, and now FSANZ draft rules may prevent certain fruits from being classified and advertised as healthy.

"Though it is important to establish the nutritional value of fruits and the circumstances that may alter their nutritional value, such as storage, it is silly to categorise the strict sugar content of carbonated drinks like Coca-Cola with the sugar content of natural fruits.

"The Government must back up its own Apples in Schools programme with the facts and insert some common sense into the rules made by FSANZ bureaucrats," says Dr Hutchison.

ENDS

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