Dietary Guidelines
Experts ask BMJ to retract Dietary Guidelines article
An array of cardiovascular and nutrition scientists from 19 countries signed a letter asking the journal BMJ to retract an article that faulted the scientific rigor that went into recommendations from an advisory committee for updating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
WHO cancer rating amplifies message to limit meat intake
The identification of processed meat and red meat as cancer hazards buttresses public health recommendations to limit meat consumption, said the director of the WHO agency that investigated meat. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified processed meat as "carcinogenic to humans" - its strongest ranking - and red meat as "probably carcinogenic to humans," the second-strongest ranking. The meat industry disputed the evidence and accused IARC of scare-mongering.
WHO agency finds cancer hazard in processed and red meat
The WHO's cancer agency, in a decision certain to intensify the debate over the American diet, classified processed meat as "carcinogenic to humans" and red meat as "probably carcinogenic to humans."
U.S. won’t mention soda taxes in Dietary Guidelines
The new edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the government's tips for a healthy diet, will not advocate soda taxes as a way to fight obesity, two Obama cabinet members told lawmakers, despite a suggestion that it should from the panel of experts that is helping to update the guidelines. Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said soda taxes fall outside the province of the guidelines so they will not be considered. They cited the same reason on Tuesday in excluding sustainability of food supplies as an element in recommendations for the American diet.
Sustainability excluded from Dietary Guidelines
Sustainability of the food supply is a critically important question but the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is not the appropriate place to discuss it, two Obama cabinet members said, bowing to months of criticism by food and ag groups. The decision by Health Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack overturned an initiative by the panel of experts they chose to help update the guidelines, which are the government's advice for healthful eating.
Conaway: Dietary panel strayed from nutritional evidence
The panel of experts helping the government revise the Dietary Guidelines for Americans "strays from strictly nutritional evidence" to dabble in "areas like sustainability and tax policy," charged House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway. With two cabinet members slated to testify before his committee on Wednesday, Conaway wrote an essay detailing his criticism.
Sustainability belongs in dietary guidelines, say experts
The food industry and its allies in Congress are trying "to excise sustainability from dietary discussions" out of fear of losing market share or fueling coalitions that could change the American diet, say six public health and sustainability experts. The group, which includes Kathleen Merrigan, former deputy agriculture secretary, writes in the journal Science that politics are the root of attacks on the upcoming edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).
BMJ clarifies two points in critique of diet-guidelines panel
The British Medical Journal clarified two points in its critique of expert advice being used by the U.S. government in updating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
BMJ article criticizes rigor of advice for Dietary Guidelines
The panel of experts that advised the government on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans "used weak scientific standards, reversing recent efforts by the government to strengthen the scientific review process," says a five-page article in the British Medical Journal. The new edition of the guidelines, which present the government's advice on healthy eating, is to be released this fall.
Senate bill says U.S. diet advice must be solely nutritional
The Senate version of the USDA/FDA funding bill includes language that would restrict the new edition of the Dietary Guidelines to solely nutritional and dietary matters.
“Hands off my hotdog!” says meat industry petition
In a bid to influence the new edition of the Dietary Guidelines, the meat industry launched a "Hands off my hotdog" petition at Change.org.
Longer comment period set for Dietary Guidelines
The government will allow an additional 30 days for comment on the report by a panel of experts on how to revise the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The report has drawn criticism because it says environmental sustainability should be taken into account in recommending a healthy diet. Farm groups, especially from the meat industry, say the report is wrong to say people should eat less meat.
Meat industry wants 120-day comment period on diet report
The North American Meat Institute filed a request with the government for a 120-day comment period on the report that the Agriculture and Health departments will use as the basis for the new edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Diet panel – Eat more fruit, veggies, dairy and less meat
The new edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans should encourage people to eat more fruit, vegetables, dairy and whole grains and less sugar and refined grains, says a panel of experts advising the government. In its report, the panel says half of Americans have preventable, chronic diseases and two-thirds are overweight or obese. The persistent and high level of diet-related disease "raise the urgency for immediate attention and bold action," says the panel.
Vilsack takes a bite out of the beef about red meat
For weeks, the ag world has buzzed with rumors that the new edition of the Dietary Guidelines would downplay the role of meat in healthy diets or even delete red meat from its recommendations. The 2010 Guidelines say at one point, "Choose a variety of protein foods, which include seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds." House Agriculture Committee chairman Mike Conaway raised the issue with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, saying...
Dietary Guidelines panel changes its thinking on cholesterol
The panel of experts charge with updating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans "has decided to drop its caution against eating cholesterol-laden food, a move that could undo 40 years of government warnings," says the Washington Post.
Countdown to the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans
The new edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the government's tips on healthful diets, will be issued in the new year, says the Health and Human Services Department.
Coffee, sugar, salt, meat, environment – five diet issues
The upcoming edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, due later this year, could propose "real limits on sugar," says an Associated Press story that lists "five things to watch for as the government begins writing the new guidelines."