The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans should encourage flexible eating patterns that are based on nutrient-dense foods, including dairy foods, IDFA said in comments filed last week with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. Because dairy foods provide nutrients that are under-consumed by most Americans and are associated with numerous health benefits, IDFA called for the Dietary Guidelines to encourage Americans to eat or drink one more serving of dairy each day.
IDFA highlighted the importance of clearly communicating the goals of the Dietary Guidelines to consumers, saying the messages should be positive, simple to understand and easy to follow so that Americans will be encouraged to mak e healthy choices based on the government’s recommendations. IDFA also encouraged USDA and HHS to make the Dietary Guidelines flexible enough to allow people to select some nutrient-dense foods that have some saturated fat, added sugar or sodium as long as they meet their recommended calorie levels.
Dairy Fits All Healthy Diets, Including Sustainable Ones
IDFA filed the comments in response to the recommendations issued earlier this year by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. For the first time, the committee also chose to consider sustainability and the impact that food production has on the environment while creating its recommendations.
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