(WASHINGTON D.C.)– On Tuesday, the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) issued a final scientific report to the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) to inform the development of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). The report was met with mixed reviews from groups across the agriculture and food sector.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) reiterated the important role of beef in a healthy diet and responded to the questionable advice published in the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s Scientific Report. Despite a wealth of high quality scientific evidence that beef has an important role to play in a healthy diet, the committee is advising the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that federal nutrition guidelines include a reduction in red meat consumption.
“Most Americans today already eat beef within the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommended levels for a healthy diet. This reduction is a solution in search of a problem,” said NCBA President and Wyoming rancher Mark Eisele. “Public health advice should be based on the totality of scientific evidence. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee ignored robust and rigorous scientific evidence about beef’s essential nutrients and the foundational, positive role it plays in health as a preferred protein food in a variety of healthy diets for all Americans.”
Meantime, the dairy industry seemingly had a mostly positive reaction to the committee recommending that Americans consume three servings of dairy per day and that dairy products stay a distinct food group in recognition of their unmatched health and nutrition benefits.
Roberta Wagner, senior vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs at the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) issued the following statement in response to the report, saying in part that “Today, 20 leading dietitians, physicians and public health experts that comprise the federal DGAC confirmed dairy products should continue to maintain a central, important role in federal nutrition recommendations for people beginning at a very early age and that most Americans should consume three servings of dairy per day. The committee, which evaluates the latest findings and overall bodies of evidence in nutrition science, found strong evidence pointing to positive health outcomes from dairy foods. In fact, the committee includes dairy as a core category in the recommended ‘Eat Healthy Your Way’ dietary pattern alongside fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes and whole grains.”
However, IDFA was not happy that “Unfortunately, the DGAC excluded a number of scientific studies which show the health benefits of dairy at each fat level,” according to Wagner. “IDFA has for many months urged the Committee to disclose what research it would rely upon to form its recommendations, yet the DGAC science selection and review process remained opaque and unavailable to public review and comment until now—after the report has been submitted to HHS and USDA. There is robust evidence to support the federal government disposing of its outdated recommendation to limit dairy consumption based on fat level. The latest science shows that full fat dairy products do not increase risk of cardiovascular disease or weight gain, and that they may in fact have positive health benefits. IDFA provided the Committee with the body of science to support this point, but the vast majority of those studies were ultimately excluded from DGAC review. IDFA encourages HHS and USDA to remedy this oversight in the final DGAs expected to issue in 2025, and to work to ensure a more transparent and scientifically rigorous process for the development of future DGAC reports.”
National Milk Producers Federation President & CEO Gregg Doud said in a statement that “NMPF thanks the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee for recognizing dairy’s important role in a healthy diet and its continued recommendation of three servings of dairy for Americans two years and older. Throughout this process, the committee looked carefully at the nutrition dairy products provide. The committee’s scientific review showed that reducing or eliminating dairy from the diet leads to undernourishment in key nutrients for millions of Americans. The review also made clear that expanding the food group to include additional plant-based alternative beverages outside of fortified soy is not supported by scientific evidence. Specifically, the committee noted “the direct substitution of plant-based milk alternatives for cow’s milk within the patterns may introduce unintended consequences for meeting other nutrient recommendations and may vary by product selected.” This is especially important, as the dietary guidelines greatly affect the food options available to children through school meals and other nutrition programs.”
Doud added in part that “We (NMPF) are disappointed that the committee only recommends consumption of unflavored milk, especially as they acknowledged that flavored milk contains beneficial nutrients and did not explicitly conclude any connection between flavored milk consumption and obesity risk.”
The International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) commented on the report saying it highlights the critical importance of incorporating fruits and vegetables into a healthy, dietary pattern for Americans across the lifespan, but proposes a reduction of starchy vegetables in the diet.
“We deeply appreciate the scientific advisory committee’s tireless work and are pleased to see that the DGAC’s report highlights the importance of consuming fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy dietary pattern for all Americans but are concerned by the proposed reduction in starchy vegetables which contribute key nutrients for various populations at different life stages when prepared with minimal or no added sugars, sodium, or saturated fat. At a time when Americans are not meeting recommendations for fruits and vegetables, it is critical that the 2025-2030 DGA strengthen recommendations for consumption of nutrient-dense foods like fruits and vegetables,” said IFPA Vice President for Nutrition and Health Mollie Van Lieu.
View the full Dietary Guidelines Report here: https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/2025-advisory-committee-report
