New Five-Year Dietary Guidelines Released

The USDA and the Health and Human Service Department released the 2020 edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 

The Hagstrom Report says the guidelines will be in place for five years. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue says, “The theme of the guidelines is ‘Make Every Bite Count.’” 

In a news release, the two agencies say they didn’t deal with the most controversial recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which was a specific limit on alcoholic beverages for men and added sugar intake. 

The release says, “Steeped in scientific evidence, the key recommendations look similar to those of the past and address two topics that garnered much attention throughout the development of the guidelines – added sugars and alcoholic beverages.” 

Tom Stenzel, CEO of United Fresh, says, “Today’s reality of facing the COVID-19 pandemic brings greater urgency than ever before. No longer are we just thinking about poor diets leading to long-term chronic disease; now, we see clearly that healthy eating is a critical defense against communicable diseases such as coronavirus.” 

He says the Dietary Guidelines mostly repeat what we already know about healthy eating.

(Story Courtesy of the NAFB News Service)