Thread by @alikjones

Here's an alternative headline:

Scores of sugary juices fall in accordance with Australian and New Zealand Dietary Guideline recommendations to limit their consumption

Disappointing not a single health expert quoted in @abcnews two weeks in a row on this issue 1/

2/ For those interested, high scoring juices have been identified from the launch of @healthstarsau as a problem. Many people think juice is healthy, but dietary guidelines don't recommend them.

3/ Even 100% juices contain a large amount of sugar that is inconsistent with a healthy diet. The World Health Organization includes juices within their definition of 'free sugars' to limit in the diet who.int/publications/i…

4/ The Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG) explicitly recommend whole fruit over juice, providing a VERY limited concession that juice may be consumed, *occasionally*, *in small amounts (125mL)*, *where fresh, frozen or tinned fruit supply is suboptimal*.

5/ Despite recent media engagement from juice producers, this limited concession does NOT constitute a recommendation for most Australians to drink fruit juice. Even 'natural' ones (has no legal meaning), with 'no added sugars' (which is currently not well defined)

6/ The NZ Dietary Guidelines are even clearer: fruit juice is listed as a high sugar drink. They recommend eating fresh fruit and drinking plain water instead.

7/ Under the new @healthstarsau rules, many fruit juices will score HSR 4.0 - this is the max score unless you're water

The more sugar your juice has, the less it scores - so yes some juices will score HSR 2.5. Remember, this is a voluntary system so they don't have to show this

8/ Its also true many diet drinks can now score HSR 3.5. Despite consumer cynicism about non-nutritive sweeteners in these products, this result is consistent with current evidence that they're not harmful per se. And that they're better than full sugar drinks.

9/ Current dietary guideline recs in Aus and NZ suggest these drinks may be a useful alternative to full sugar soft drinks but should still be consumed in moderation. This is an area of evidence to watch - and might be updated in the next iteration of dietary guidelines

10/ All of this is to say that the current noise from the juice lobby and their political supporters is unfounded. Ministers already made an evidence-based decision to adjust drinks scoring and I'm happy they stuck with it.

11/ Its been a tough year for Australian farmers, and they need to be supported. But this isn't an excuse to subvert health policy. Last minute lobbying to change scores was all about protecting profits, not promoting health. This isn't the purpose of @healthstarsau

12/ Finally, this update to @healthstarsau is a good reminder that juice isn't as healthy as you think. A 600mL bottle can contain around 13 teaspoons of sugar, and none of the fibre.

Fruit is great, but eat it whole. Make water your drink of choice.

Thanks for listening🍊🍏💦

p.s. @thereadreaderapp can you unroll this thread please?