International Dairy Foods Association
Nutrition Working Group Call on the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
2:00 – 3:00 PM Eastern
- Welcome
Michelle Matto took a roll call before thanking everyone for their time and participation on the call. Matto then offered a brief background on the procedure for developing new dietary guidelines. Matto also noted that the procedure will change this year, and that FDA and USDA are asking for comments on nutrition related questions before selecting their guidelines committee to increase transparency. - Goals for DGA
Michael Dykes has asked for the committee to identify its goals for the dietary guidelines and to identify IDFA’s position regarding dairy products in the guidelines. Matto stated that a past goal for the dairy industry have been to continue the important role of dairy in recommended eating patterns.One member was concerned that the agencies were becoming too specific in their questions, and that there are too many variables in which they are basing their determinations. Matto agreed and suggested that focusing on general eating patterns would be preferable and this would show that there is a wide range of nutrient profiles to consider when developing the guidelines. Concepts for DGA goals suggested by the group include: - Questions from USDA and HHS
Matto asked those present in the call if any of the questions posed by the agencies were especially relevant to dairy. One member felt concerned about how the questions focus on age groups, and the member felt that this was questionable as people are not meeting the current guidelines as is. Another member was concerned about the overall value of these questions because they are so specific and messages based on these questions could be difficult to communicate. There was concern that they could undermine the idea of guidelines that would apply to all Americans and could cause confusion for consumers.
Another member thought that it would be a good idea to have a better understanding of the dietary model being used to develop the guidelines, and the member also asked if the agencies planned to update the model. Matto stated that modeling seems to be a key component in the development of the guidelines.
Matto then asked if there were any specific questions to be addressed or that IDFA should ask the agencies to address.
One member thought that it would be prudent to look at saturated fats and if dairy could potentially be lumped in with the saturated fats guidelines. The agencies could be specifically asked to include milkfat research in the Dietary Guidelines.
A member raised concerns over the last DGA’s recommendations on added sugars, stating that there were many assumptions made. This member stated that if an added sugars recommendation were made during this process, better data should be used. - Other Talking Points
Matto asked if there were other talking points that should be addressed or may be important. There were no comments. - Next Steps
Matto stated that IDFA would be holding a call with representatives from the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and National Dairy Council (NDC) later in the week and that there will be a similar discussion to the one held today. Matto reminded everyone that comments on the questions and priorities are due March 30, 2018. Matto stated that she will develop a draft response to solidify the working group’s goals. She also stated that there will be another call in a few weeks to discuss the draft before submission. - Adjourn
With no other business to attend to, the meeting was adjourned.