As the end nears, the 2025 Dietary Guidelines turn just a bit political

As a function of the Biden-Harris Administration, the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Committee might be a drag on rural votes. On the eve of next week’s Presidential election, the Biden/Harris advisory committee has endorsed plant-based protein substitutes instead of beef in some instances.

The response from “fly over” America came quickly.

“The far left’s war on your grocery list is expanding. In this latest volley, the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has aimed not only at meat but also at potatoes and other foods that are staples of a healthy diet,” said Rep. Mike Flood, R-NE.

“Meat is the most efficient way to deliver protein, and potatoes contain basic nutrients like potassium and Vitamin C. Meat and potatoes underpin our country’s food security, Flood continued.

“I urge both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to reject these ill-informed recommendations and the activist thinking which is trying to reshape our diets and the way of life for the farm families who grow our food, “he added.

Beans, peas and lentils are among the replacements for beef in the late-arriving proposal by the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Committee. The committee makes recommendations to the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services.

The Denver-based National Cattlemen’s Beef Association responded to the plan to drop beef for plant-based proteins with one word: “unhinged.”

Some of NCBA’s other words were out-of-touch, impractical and elitist

The 2025 Dietary Guidelines Committee is a 20-member nutrition and public health experts group.  It is now done holding public meetings, but it remains tasked with submitting a scientific report to USDA and HHS by the end of the year.  Most committee members are university faculty members.

NCBA is not only fighting back but also charging the USDA/HHS with taking chaotic new directions at the last minute.

“The preview meeting of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee this (past) week stands out as one of the most out-of-touch, impractical, and elitist conversations in the history of this process,” said Ethan Lane, vice president of government affairs for the beef industry group. “After 22 months of public discussion and lip service to transparency, we are disappointed by the number of chaotic new directions proposed at the last minute. We would laugh at the suggestion that beans, peas, and lentils will replace lean red meat and fill all the nutrient gaps Americans face if it weren’t such a dangerous and deceptive idea.”

Beef contributes only 5 percent of the calories in the American diet, but more than 5 percent of essential nutrients like potassium, phosphorous, iron, B6, niacin, protein, zinc, choline, and B12, said Shalene McNeill, PhD, RD, executive director of Nutrition Science at NCBA. “It’s baffling that we are trying to get Americans to cut out red meat when the evidence indicates nutrient deficiencies and chronic disease are increasing as red meat consumption declines. As a registered dietitian and nutrition scientist, I am concerned that basing guidelines on highly academic exercises, hypothetical modeling, and weak science on red meat will not produce relevant or practical guidelines and will not help us achieve healthier diets.”

The Dietary Guidelines are science-based recommendations that inform nutrition programs and policies in the United States, such as the National School Lunch Program. The public traditionally does not pay much attention to them, but the food industry is known to contest every detail.

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