Food for Thought on Dietary Guidelines

The Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is now available for public comment. The Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services work together to update and release the Dietary Guidelines every five years.

The Scientific Report is a resource that informs the final Dietary Guidelines but note that it is not a draft of the Dietary Guidelines. Highlights of this year’s Scientific Report include a recommendation to reduce the amount of energy from added sugars from 10% to 6%. In comparison, the WHO recommends limiting intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake and suggests that a further reduction to less than 5% of total energy intake would provide additional health benefits. The Scientific Report also includes a recommendation that men limit their daily alcohol consumption to no more than one drink per day, the same recommendation as for women.

Critics  are noting the absence of significant topics from the list of questions the DGAC studied, including consumption of red meat and sodium intake as well as the process itself this year. You can read the Scientific Report here and submit comments to the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services here  by the deadline of August 13, 2020. For more information and in-depth analysis and insights into the Dietary Guidelines from around the world, please contact us.

Posted on 24 July 2020