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Proposed Dietary Guidelines recommending less red meat
 


By KAREN BINDER & STEVE BINDER
Illinois Correspondents

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Beef and pork producers are voicing their opposition to the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recommendations that Americans should eat less red meat and to consider production impacts on the environment.
Last week, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack jointly released the committee’s report online, making it available for public review and comment. Among recommended changes is consumption of fewer red meats and high-sugar food such as soda, and the consideration of sustainability of food production.
“For decades, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans have been at the core of our efforts to promote the health and well-being of American families,” Burwell and Vilsack said. “Now that the advisory committee has completed its recommendations, HHS and USDA will review this advisory report, along with comments from the public – including other experts – and input from other federal agencies as we begin the process of updating the guidelines.”
Cattle associations are weighing in, saying the guidelines should focus only on nutrition and science, not climate change. Linda Chezem, chair of the United States Cattlemen’s Assoc. (USCA) Dietary Committee, noted it is pleased beef remains a recommended source of protein.
“We remain concerned with the continued references to ‘sustainability’ in the committee’s discussions,” she said. “The USCA asks USDA and HHS to address this issue and to remove it from further discussions, as its relevance falls greatly outside the panel’s described realm of expertise.”
The Texas Cattle Feeders Assoc., the nation’s largest cattle group, represents the cattle feeding industry in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. “Evidence showing the benefits of protein in a healthy diet, especially lean beef, is stronger than ever before,” Chair Tom McDonald said. “To remove ‘lean meat’ from the list of foods associated with dietary patterns linked to positive health is ridiculous and would reverse 30-plus years of nutrition advice recommending Americans ‘go lean with protein.’”
The report says: “Dietary patterns with positive health benefits are described as high in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, seafood, legumes and nuts; moderate in low- and non-fat dairy products; lower in red and processed meat; and low in sugar-sweetened foods and beverages and refined grains.”
Dietician Sharon Peterson, who teaches at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and operates a nutrition therapy business in Carterville, has been a strong advocate against large amounts of high fructose syrup added to processed foods. The new guidelines against sugar-sweetened foods are long overdue, she said.
“It makes absolutely no sense for products such as ketchup to be loaded with high fructose corn syrup. We are a society – with the help of the sellers of the products we consume – that is in love with sweet things.”
The National Center for Public Policy Research has also shared its concerns, noting the guidelines should promote health and disease risk reduction and not focus on promoting a smaller carbon footprint in food production.
“For the first time in the history of the guidelines, ‘sustainability’ has been a prominent part of the agenda. Actual items on their Dietary Guidelines working group agenda included ‘immigration,’ ‘global climate change’ and ‘agriculture/aquaculture sustainability,’” said the center’s Jeff Stier.
“By favoring foods which activists think have a smaller carbon footprint, the new guidelines will increase the prices you pay for your food. It will also increase the cost to all taxpayers, since the Dietary Guidelines are used to set policy for food stamps and military diets.”
The 14 outside experts who made up the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee are nationally recognized in the fields of nutrition, medicine and public health. The committee held seven public meetings over the last two years. The recommendations of the committee are non-binding and advisory to HHS and USDA as they draft the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015.
Everyone is encouraged to view the report and provide comments at www.DietaryGuidelines.gov for a period of 45 days after publication in the Federal Register. USDA and HHS will review comments and work at the staff level and with the secretaries to accept, modify or reject the report as written. It is expected the Guidelines will be finalized and published by the end of 2015.
2/27/2015