The second meeting of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee took place earlier this week at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. IDFA presented oral comments on Tuesday, emphasizing the value that nutrient-dense dairy products bring to the American diet and highlighting the industry’s successful efforts to reduce fat, added sugar and sodium while continuing to meet consumer demand for delicious, convenient and reasonably priced products.
“Milk provides nine essential nutrients, while yogurt and cheese provide protein, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, vitamins A and D,” said Michelle Matto, IDFA’s consultant on nutrition and labeling, who presented brief comments within the allowed three-minute window. “Even dairy products that contain some fat or added sugar have high nutrient density. Focusing American diets on nutrient-dense foods encourages people to include more nutrients in a lower calorie diet and helps them meet overall dietary requirements.”
Matto explained how many companies have incorporated new processing technologies and ingredients to lower fat, sodium and added sugars in dairy products, particularly yogurt, ice cream and cheese. At the same time, she noted that the functional use of salt in the cheesemaking process makes reducing sodium extremely difficult and asked committee members to consider the recent Institute of Medicine’s report on sodium when making new recommendations. Although the report indicates that reducing sodium intake from very high to moderate levels provides health benefits, the authors said there is no indication that the general population should lower sodium intake below 2,300 mg, or that special populations need separate recommendations.
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