Testimony Submitted to the Senate Agriculture Committee on the Whole Milk for Health Kids Act

The expert committee reviewing the science for the next U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans is considering major changes to the protein food groups. An analysis of the last two public meetings of the expert committee, in September 2023 and January 2024, indicate a strong possibility that these groups with meat and dairy may be reduced or diluted by plant proteins, continuing a steady erosion of these categories over the past 20 years.

The expert committee reviewing the science for the next U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans is considering major changes to the protein food groups. An analysis of the last two public meetings of the expert committee, in September 2023 and January 2024, indicate a strong possibility that these groups with meat and dairy may be reduced or diluted by plant proteins, continuing a steady erosion of these categories over the past 20 years.

Sometimes, a well-timed email can make a real difference. For Michael Collins, age 53, that life-changing message arrived from his employer’s wellness initiative in October 2020. It was the Monday after his doctor had told him that he was “in trouble” and needed to get his weight and diabetes under control.

We write on behalf of the Nutrition Coalition to express our concerns about the current protocol criteria of the Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review (NESR) for the systematic review on dietary patterns and growth, body composition, and risk of obesity.

Here is the recent history showing that the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, the federal agencies that co-issue the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, have consistently and willfully ignored the large body of scientific literature on low-carbohydrate diets.

The next version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans needs to take a close look at the effectiveness of low-carb diets, most commenters told the federal agencies putting together the 2025-2030 DGA.

If the White House wants to reduce the prevalence of diet-related diseases, it should follow the lead of the AHA and ADA and reevaluate the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to offer an alternative for the 50% of Americans with diabetes or prediabetes, not to mention other diet-related diseases.