The Fructose Puzzle

Many years ago I was an officer of the U.S. Agency for International Development, America’s foreign aid program. I still remember how our staff lawyers impressed me with their ability to get around onerous restrictions that the Congress placed on our ability to do the many little jobs that we had to do.

One of the legal tools that the lawyers used again and again was something they called “de minimis.” It comes from the Latin phrase, de minimis non curat lex, which means that the law is not interested in trivial matters.

For the rest of my life I have dismissed trivialities as de minimis. Likewise, I hereby dismiss any concern about the fructose in fruit and vegetables as de minimis.