Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 10/6/15


In a post to the USDA blog, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the federal Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, said that issues of "sustainability" would not be included in the final version of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines, due out later this year.

The blog entry, posted Tuesday afternoon, said, "In terms of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), we will remain within the scope of our mandate in the 1990 National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act, which is to provide “nutritional and dietary information and guidelines”… “based on the preponderance of the scientific and medical knowledge. The final 2015 Guidelines are still being drafted, but because this is a matter of scope, we do not believe that the 2015 DGAs are the appropriate vehicle for this important policy conversation about sustainability."

The meat industry's representatives had fought hard to have references to "sustainability" excised from the guidelines, citing them as an example of "mission creep" by the advisory committee.

The blog also indicated the 2015 guidelines may be little changed from the current guidelines, issued in 2010
"The guidelines help our citizens make their own informed choices about their diets and create a roadmap for preventing diet-related health conditions, like obesity, diabetes and heart disease. ... This year, we will release the 2015 edition, and though the guidelines have yet to be finalized, we know they will be similar in many key respects to those of past years. ... This familiar equation will remain constant, though updated to reflect the latest research and science, as well as our current understanding of the connections between diet and health.

"As always, these guidelines were created with input by nutrition and medical experts and practitioners—the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee—as well as comments from the public, and thousands of scientific papers. HHS and USDA required the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to conduct a rigorous, systematic and transparent review of the current body of nutrition science. ... There has been some discussion this year about whether we would include the goal of sustainability as a factor in developing dietary guidelines. ... Issues of the environment and sustainability are critically important and they are addressed in a number of initiatives within the Administration."

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.