Source: National Pork Producers Council
Des Moines, IA — In comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), NPPC expressed serious concerns about the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s so-called scientific report recommendations for the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
HHS and USDA use the committee’s report to write the Dietary Guidelines, which inform all federal nutrition programs, including school meals, and provide dietary recommendations used by health professionals.
Among its recommendations for the 2025 guidelines, the advisory committee said Americans should reduce and replace red meat with plant-based proteins.
NPPC, responding in October to the committee’s draft scientific report, pointed out that cutting red meat intake will lead to “significant nutrient gaps and deficiencies,” putting infants, young children, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women, and older adults, all of whom require higher amounts of protein and nutrients, at risk. NPPC more fervently reiterated the point in its latest comments.
NPPC’s take: NPPC opposes the advisory committee’s recommendation on meat, noting that “[t]here has been no scientific justification for reducing red meat and replacing it with plant-based proteins. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans need to reflect nutrition science and continue to recommend animal-based protein such as red meat as a critical part of the American diet.”
“U.S. pork producers are committed to supporting human health and nutrition with safe, wholesome, and nutritious protein; the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recommendations do not,” said Rob Brenneman, NPPC vice president and pork producer from Washington, Iowa.
NPPC will work with the Trump administration to ensure the Dietary Guidelines best serve the health and nutrition interests of the American public.
