2015 Dietary Guidelines Deliberations Get Underway

DHHS and USDA announced the inaugural meeting of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC), scheduled for June 13-14.  At the inaugural meeting, the DGAC will be provided with an orientation to the process for revising the Dietary Guidelines (revisions take place every five years) and will begin its deliberations.  The meeting announcement describes the DGAC’s task as follows:

The work of the DGAC will be solely advisory in nature and time-limited. The Committee will develop recommendations based on the preponderance of current scientific and medical knowledge using a systematic review approach. The DGAC will examine the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, take into consideration new scientific evidence and current resource documents, and develop a report to the Secretaries of HHS and USDA that outlines its science-based recommendations and rationale which will serve as the basis for developing the eighth edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

It is difficult to overstate the importance of the DGAC’s deliberations, given the influence of the Dietary Guidelines on food formulation and marketing.  The DGAC will hold several meetings into next year, with the goal of issuing a report to DHHS and USDA in late 2014.  The agencies will consider the DGAC’s report in developing the next iteration of the Dietary Guidelines policy document, which is expected to publish in Fall 2015.