The Agriculture and Health departments said they will decide the issues that will be discussed by experts in updating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, precluding divisive topics such as meat consumption and long-term availability of food that delayed the 2015-2020 edition for months. Released every five years, the guidelines have a major impact on what the country eats, although three-fourth of Americans don’t eat as much fruit or vegetables as recommended.
Officials from USDA and HHS said they will select the topics for investigation for the 2020-2025 Guidelines before appointing the members of the advisory committee that recommends revisions to the document. In the past, the panel decided which topics merited further research. The administration says there will be “greater transparency” under its plan to ask public comment on issues that need study.
“I think you’re absolutely correct about that,” responded acting deputy agriculture undersecretary Brandon Lipps, when a reporter asked on a conference call if USDA would set the agenda before the committee is formed. “The topics are out for review,” he replied when another reporter asked if the advisory committee would consider sustainability of food supplies. Heeding complaints from ranchers, Congress barred the 2015 advisory committee from making sustainability a part of its dietary advice.
Lipps said the new approach would allow USDA and HHS to select experts for the advisory committee whose expertise matched the topics that will be studied.
Critics such as House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway of Texas, the No. 1 cattle state, said the 2015 advisory committee exceeded its authority by trying to use sustainability as a factor in the guidelines. The Obama administration, after months of criticism, said sustainability was an important issue but the guidelines were not the appropriate place to discuss it. Cattle ranchers and farm groups said the advisory panel unfairly attacked red meat consumption. The Republican-controlled Congress ordered a $1 million outside review to ensure future editions of the Dietary Guidelines are even-handed and “based on strong, balanced science.”
Lipps and Deputy Assistant Health Secretary Don Wright said the administration will proposed a “life stage” and eating patterns approach for the 2020-2025 edition. In a release, the government said it would focus on patterns of what Americans eat and drink as a whole over time, rather than individual foods or food groups.
The 2015 Guidelines were the first to recommend a limit on added sugars in the diet of no more than 10 percent of overall calories. About 13 percent of calories in the American diet come from sugar added to food by food processors, cooks and consumers. The current edition encouraged “a healthy eating pattern” to reduce the risk of chronic disease. A healthy eating pattern includes a variety of vegetables, fruit, grains, low- or fat-free dairy, oils, and a variety of proteins including seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes, nuts, seeds and soy products while limiting intake of saturated and trans fats, added sugars and sodium.
Some 19 topics, split among five groups of people from toddlers through the elderly, are suggested for a 30-day public comment period that runs through March 30.
The list of topics is available here.
The current and past editions of the Dietary Guidelines are available here.