Last week, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) held its second meeting of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines process. This meeting included an opportunity for oral comment from the public. On January 14, I presented oral comments to the DGAC on behalf of IDFA. I emphasized the nutrient density of dairy products and the importance of including dairy in the Dietary Guidelines. I also spoke about the successes by and efforts of the dairy industry to formulate products that are lower in added sugar, fat and sodium. In addition to oral comments from the public, the DGAC meeting also included presentations from each of the five subcommitees, as well as three invited experts regarding sustainability, dietary patterns and the scope of the Dietary Guidelines. Here are two of the issues that will be important to the Dietary Guidelines as a whole, and specifically for dairy.

Sustainability

Sustainability and the impact of food choices on the environment represent one of the areas that the DGAC has considered incorporating into the 2015 Dietary Guidelines since its first meeting. The interest continued with a presentation by a speaker invited to address this topic and with a subcommittee tasked with examining research on food safety and sustainability. This topic has not been included in past DGAC reports. Discussions about sustainability focused on the concept that meat and animal products, including dairy, have an overall negative impact on the environment. One of the public commenters was a dairy farmer from Vermont, representing the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy’s Sustainability Council, discussing the positive sustainability work by dairy producers.

Plant-based Diets

Plant-based diets were discussed both in the context of sustainability and also by a number of public commenters who urged the DGAC to encourage plant-based diets that completely exclude animal products, including dairy. The definition of plant-based diets seems to vary from person to person. There are plant-based diets that contain high levels of fruits, vegetables and plant foods that also include dairy products. But, in some cases, “plant-based diet” is used to describe vegan diets without any animal products. The DGAC will be soliciting public comment on specific topics, two of which were announced at last week’s meeting. The first is a request for comments regarding industry efforts to lower sodium, added sugars and saturated fat in foods and beverages. This is an excellent opportunity to provide information to the committee on the work that the dairy industry has done with a variety of products, along with highlighting the possibilities and hurdles of some reformulation efforts. The second request is for information on best practices related to sustainability. In addition to its oral comments, IDFA also plans to submit written comments to the DGAC. If your company is a member of IDFA and you would like to contribute to IDFA’s comments, please reach out to me at amfoodnutrition@gmail.com.