NMPF: New Federal Dietary Guidelines Are Good News For Dairy

In late December, the USDA rolled out the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In the updated DGA, the federal government continued to recommend three servings of low-fat and non-fat dairy products for a healthy diet. In addition, not only did dairy remain its own group, dairy was recognized as a source of under-consumed nutrients, such as vitamin D, potassium, and calcium, which are also known as nutrients of public health concern.

Miquela Hanselman, NMPF’s regulatory affairs manager, said these guidelines do much more than let Americans know what they should be eating for a healthy diet.

“But the guidelines also influence and determine what can be offered in federal nutrition programs. Including, for example, the school lunch program and what milks can be served, making these super important because those programs are feeding millions of kids every day.”

Hanselman said while dairy is in a good place, the updated DGA could have done more.

“This is something National Milk has been working on is the recognition of the newer science on full-fat dairy. In even the last iteration of the guidelines, there was science out that was starting to show that full-fat dairy has neutral or beneficial effects on the health of people.  But unfortunately, they once again failed to acknowledge this science and only non-fat and low-fat dairy is still being recommended.”

Hanselman said between now and 2025, the NMFP will continue to push for the addition of additional dairy product.

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia.com