The 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) submitted its report to the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services last month and disbanded. It is now up to the USDA and HHS to take the DGAC’s conclusions and recommendations and issue a revised edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Interested persons may submit comments on the DGAC report until May 8, 2015.
Some aspects of the DGAC report have been controversial.
- More than any previous committee, the 2015 DGAC wades heavily into the policy arena. Its report includes a number of controversial policy prescriptions such as the following:
- FDA should revise the Nutrition Facts label to include a mandatory declaration for Added Sugars, in both grams and teaspoons per serving, as well as a % Daily Value based on a DV of no more than 10% of total calories (e., 50 g);
- FDA should create a standardized front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition label that would appear on all food products and that would provide clear guidance regarding a food’s healthfulness;
- FDA should establish mandatory national standards for the sodium content of foods;
- Federal nutrition assistance programs, including Food Stamps (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), should be aligned with the Dietary Guidelines; and
- Governments should use economic and tax policies to encourage the production and consumption of healthy foods and reduce consumption of unhealthy foods (g., by taxing sugar-sweetened beverages, snack foods, and desserts; by restricting marketing of certain foods to children and teens).
We expect USDA and HHS to take these policy recommendations under advisement, but not include them in the Dietary Guidelines.
- For the first time, the DGAC report includes a chapter devoted mainly to the issue of sustainability. While the committee offers a justification for addressing environmental sustainability in a document about nutrition, some have questioned whether environmental issues are within its mandate.
- While acknowledging that virtually all foods can be part of a healthy dietary pattern, the DGAC strongly favors a diet higher in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low and non-fat dairy products, seafood, legumes, and nuts and lower in red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, and refined grains. There is a concern that some of the complexities of previous nutritional recommendations may be lost in this emphasis on a healthy dietary pattern. For example, the emphasis on whole grains might lead some consumers to neglect enriched refined grains, which also play a significant nutritional role. The emphasis on reducing consumption of red and processed meats may cause some consumers to overlook lean meat as a good source of heme iron, even though the report notes that iron is a nutrient of concern for adolescent girls and premenopausal women.
While these controversial aspects of the DGAC report have received the most attention, there are some other interesting findings and recommendations in the report worth noting:
- While continuing to recommend reductions in intake of sodium and saturated fat, the 2015 DGAC backs away from the sharper reductions recommended by the 2010 committee. Whereas the 2010 DGAC recommended no more than 1,500 mg/day of sodium, the 2015 DGAC recommends no more than 2,300 mg/day. Whereas the 2010 DGAC called for gradually reducing saturated fat to <7% of total calories, the 2015 DGAC only recommends reducing saturated fat to <10% of total calories.
- The report deflates some of the recent concerns expressed by FDA and members of Congress about caffeine. The DGAC concludes that U.S. caffeine intake does not exceed what is currently considered to be a safe level in any group.
- The DGAC concludes that there is limited and inconsistent evidence that calorie labeling on menus and menu boards affects food selection or consumption.
- For commonly consumed fish species (g., cod, trout, salmon), the DGAC found that farm-raised seafood contains as much or more of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA as the same species caught in the wild.
The 2015 Dietary Guidelines is expected to be released in the fall.
