The updated federal dietary guidelines are slated to be released in January.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently told POLITICO that a January release makes the most sense, given American’s focus on healthy eating and exercise around the new year.
Earlier this year, the beef industry took issue with a dietary guidelines advisory committee’s recommendations related to beef consumption. The committee recommended people eat less red meat and suggested that environmental sustainability be considered in constructing the guidelines.
The chief lobbyist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Kristina Butts, says the industry fought hard against those recommendations, which HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack have promised will not be part of the final guidelines.
“They issued a blog statement addressing that lean meat is part of a healthy dietary pattern—which was a big mistake from the advisory committee’s final recommendations—and they also made the point that topics out of the scope, like sustainability, will not be in the final guidelines,” says Butts.
The dietary guidelines are updated every five years.
Source: www.brownfieldagnews.com