The New Dietary Guidelines: Nutritionists React

avlxyz/flickr

The 2010 edition of the dietary guidelines appeared on January 31. Since then, FoodNavigator-USA, an online daily newsletter for the food industry, says it has been gathering reactions and taking a look at how the guidelines are likely to affect food and beverage companies. Here are its reports.

'Eat less': A difficult message for industry: The new dietary guidelines give the food industry the clearest map yet of what is necessary for a healthy diet—but no one is fooled by assertions that industry is already in line.

2010 Dietary Guidelines: Opportunity for continued industry innovation: In this guest article, Melissa Musiker of the Grocery Manufacturers Association says that the 2010 Dietary Guidelines are an opportunity for industry to find better ways to innovate, as part of a collective responsibility to improve American diets.

How the 2010 guidelines affect food technologists: The 2010 Dietary Guidelines' new focus on reducing energy intake will present major reformulation challenges for food technologists, says the Institute of Food Technologists' (IFT) president-elect.

Politics too influential in new Dietary Guidelines, says nutrition expert [that would be me]: The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans are still too heavily influenced by political interests—but the initial consumer messaging was 'fantastic', according to nutrition and public policy expert Marion Nestle.

'Total diet' in the 2010 Dietary Guideline: The latest version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans includes a new focus on the importance of total diet. FoodNavigator-USA spoke to Cynthia Harriman of Oldways to get the perspective of the organization behind the Mediterranean diet pyramid.

USDA releases 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has updated the Dietary Guidelines for Americans for the first time since 2005, with a number of small changes that could make a big difference for the food industry.

Industry welcomes USDA Dietary Guidelines supplements shift: The US dietary supplements industry has welcomed the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which demonstrated a thawing in attitude toward supplements use from a Guidelines committee that has previously balked at recommending them.

---

This post also appears on foodpolitics.com.