The Department of Health and Human Services recently announced new dietary guidelines and is preparing further changes in federal food procurement programs. Changes include an increased emphasis on animal protein and high fat dairy, as well as advice concerning pregnancy, infants and toddlers.
Joanne Slavin, a professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences who served on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, can provide key insights on what the new guidelines mean for Americans.
Joanne Slavin, Ph.D., RDN
“The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) have been around since 1980 to advise consumers on links between food intake and chronic disease. The DGAs are published every 5 years and matter since they affect all food policy in the US. The DGAs are based on a scientific review of research on diet and disease relationships conducted by academic experts for 2 years before the DGAs are updated. I was a member of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee (DGAC) and wrote the protein section. I am excited that the new DGAs are focusing on protein needs across the lifecycle. Research supports that animal foods are excellent sources of high-quality protein. We need to make sure that high quality protein is available for all Americans, especially during growth and development.
“Allowing consumers to choose whole milk rather than just low fat milk makes sense as dairy products are essential in our food supply to supply protein, Vitamin D and calcium. When children are only offered low fat milk at school lunch, they often choose not to consume milk at all. Foods that are not consumed do not provide any nutrients.
“The choice of experts to advise the process is a departure from the use of an academic panel of experts on the DGAC. The advisors to the new DGAs were not selected through the past process of a call for experts on food and nutrition topics, but instead are influencers on food and nutrition issues who were not vetted through the usual academic process.”
Joanne Slavin is a professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. She teaches Advanced Human Nutrition, a writing intensive class that covers food policy and human health. She owns the Slavin Sisters Farm LLC in Walworth, WI and is a member of the Sustainable Nutrition Scientific Board. She served on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee in 2010 and works with industry, commodity groups and NGOs to promote food science, nutrition and agriculture.
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