Good nutrition is the foundation of health and wellness for adults and children alike, and dairy is a crucial part of a healthy diet beginning at a very young age. In fact, no other type of food or beverage provides the unique combination of nutrients that dairy contributes to the American diet, including high-quality protein, calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, and health benefits including better bone health and lower risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Moreover, a growing body of data and research underscores the role that dairy—at all fat levels—should play in a healthy diet. In fact, a growing body of evidence indicates that consumption of full fat dairy foods (milk, cheese and yogurt) is not associated with higher risk of negative health outcomes, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
IDFA believes dairy products provide a powerful package of nutrients and protein that remains one of the best values available today. We’ve been tireless in making the case for increasing the variety of dairy products served to students in schools and child care, low-income Americans through the SNAP and WIC programs, and made available to those struggling to make ends meet at America’s food banks. This is important as Congress considers updates to the Farm Bill, to the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act, and to appropriations that funds vital nutrition programs. We continue to promote the nutrition education messages resulting from the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans while working to ensure that the 2025-2030 DGAs reflect the science on dairy's role in a healthy diet.
In promoting and defending dairy’s role in a healthy diet, IDFA is focused on four areas: the Dietary Guidelines for Americans; the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children (WIC); school meals; and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans provide advice on the foods and beverages that will help individuals develop a healthy diet, meet nutrition needs and prevent diet-related diseases. The guidelines also set the standards for federal nutrition programs and federal nutrition education messages.
The Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services released the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans in December 2020, affirming the unrivaled contribution made by dairy foods and remind Americans that a healthy diet includes three daily servings of low-fat and fat-free dairy. The federal government is currently working to update the DGA in 2025.
Throughout the development of the new Dietary Guidelines, IDFA is sharing scientific evidence with the advisory committee and the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services to support maintaining the number of servings and expand choices to include higher fat levels. IDFA is also stressing the importance of keeping dairy as a separate and essential food group and asked the advisory committee, USDA, and HHS to consider nutrient density when assessing dairy products with added sugars.
Associate Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Nutrition
Vice President, Legislative Affairs
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides nutritious foods to supplement the diets of low-income women who are pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding, as well as children up to age five who are at nutritional risk. In 2022, 6.2 million Americans participated in the WIC program, according to USDA data.
Nutritious dairy products like milk, yogurt, and cheese make up the most commonly purchased food group among mothers and families enrolled in WIC. In addition to being the most popular products, dairy foods provide mothers, infants, and children with 13 essential nutrients needed for growth and development at the critical life stages surrounding pregnancy, birth, and early childhood. At the same time, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans highlights that nearly 90 percent of Americans do not consume enough dairy to meet dietary recommendations. Yet the USDA in November 2022 proposed to cut the amount of dairy provided through the WIC food package by up to 6 quarts per month, depending on the participant, with the largest reduction for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. IDFA opposes these cuts and instead is urging USDA to find ways to improve program participation by encouraging the purchase of nutritious milk and dairy. Read more.
Associate Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Nutrition
Vice President, Legislative Affairs
The National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Summer Food Service Program and Child and Adult Care Food Program, often referred to as the child nutrition programs, are authorized under the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act and are intended to be reviewed by Congress periodically to meet modern needs. In addition to statutory changes and reauthorizations by Congress, USDA also has an important role in implementing and administering requirements, such as school meal patterns and nutritional guidelines for school meals through program regulations.
Good nutrition is the foundation of health and wellness for children, and milk is a crucial part of a healthy diet beginning at a very young age. In fact, no other type of food or beverage provides the unique combination of nutrients that dairy contributes to the American diet – including high-quality protein, calcium, vitamin D, and potassium – and health benefits including better bone health. As children grow into adulthood, milk continues to provide benefits by lowering the risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Dairy products play a critical role in the diet of children, where milk is the top source of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and vitamin D in kids ages 2-18.
IDFA is a longtime advocate for expanding nutritious milk varieties in schools to improve dairy consumption and preserving flexibility to offer non-fat and low-fat (1%) flavored milk. Also important to dairy and school meals overall is for sodium target limits have a reasonable phase-in for food manufacturers and schools to implement and accommodations for sodium use for food safety and functional purposes. Read more.
Associate Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Nutrition
Vice President, Legislative Affairs
The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) augments the food budgets of low-income people and families so they can purchase nutritious foods, including milk, cheese and yogurt. The program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and funded by Congress. More than 41 million Americans participated in SNAP in 2022, according to FNS.
IDFA and others in the dairy industry worked successfully with Congress to add a milk incentive program for SNAP participants to the 2018 Farm Bill. The new Healthy Fluid Milk Incentives Projects program boosts participants' purchasing power by allowing them to buy more milk and helping them to support a healthy lifestyle. IDFA wants to remove retail barriers so participants and their children can get at least the minimum number of daily dairy servings recommended by the Dietary Guidelines. In addition, IDFA supports the newly proposed Dairy Nutrition Incentive Program Act of 2023 to expand HFMI to support SNAP purchases of the full range of nutritious dairy products, from yogurt to cheese to more milk varieties. Read more.
For more information, contact Rob Rosado at rrosado@idfa.org.
Vice President, Legislative Affairs
According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, nearly 36% of the American population have lactose malabsorption, making it harder for them to digest lactose, enjoy dairy products that contain lactose, and benefit from those products’ unique nutrient contributions. That does not mean these Americans should avoid dairy. Unless you have a milk or dairy allergy, you can still enjoy the delicious taste and nutritional benefits of lactose-free milk and dairy product, which contain nearly identical nutrient levels as products that contain lactose.
The U.S. dairy industry in recent years has made the development of new lactose-free dairy products a priority, and these products now abound in retail establishments across the United States. IDFA and the dairy industry are committed to ensuring Americans have access to these products in all the places they access their nutrition, from school meals to government assistance programs to foodservice establishments like restaurants.
IDFA advocates for the U.S. government to promote the availability of lactose-free dairy products to Americans. We support having the Dietary Guidelines for Americans report strongly endorse and promote lactose-free as an option for those who cannot consume traditional dairy. We support making lactose-free options more available in schools. We also support lactose-free options as part of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food package, and we support lactose-free options as part of the Healthy Fluid Milk Incentive (HFMI) Projects. Read more.
Vice President, Legislative Affairs
Executive Vice President, Chief Impact Officer
Associate Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Nutrition
