Meat associations oppose Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommendation
Meat Institute and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association express disappointment with the recommendation.
While the US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health and Human Services craft the 2025-30 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is responsible for providing insights and recommendations on the guidelines.
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has submitted its scientific report, advising the USDA and HHS to make federal nutrition guidelines include a reduction in red meat consumption. Both the Meat Institute and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association are disappointed with the recommendation.
In a statement, Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts expressed the Meat Institute’s strong opposition to the recommendation to reduce meat consumption.
“For the 95% of Americans who consume meat, the Report’s recommendations are tone deaf and unrealistic. Americans need guidance on how meat fits in a healthy diet. Directives from out-of-touch academics to eat legumes and avoid the nutrient-dense foods they love does not foster improved health and fails to account for the central role of meat within America’s cultural diversity.
“The Report’s recommendations fail to provide attainable nutritional guidance by marginalizing one of the most nutrient dense, accessible, and culturally relevant foods in the American diet,” Potts said.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association also released a statement regarding the scientific report, emphasizing the nutritional benefits of beef and the protein’s role in a healthy diet. NCBA President and Wyoming rancher Mark Eisele called the committee’s recommendation a “solution in search of a problem.
In NCBA’s statement, Eisele said the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee ignored scientific evidence regarding beef’s nutritional value.
“Cutting back on beef isn’t going to Make America Healthy Again. There’s irrefutable evidence about the valuable role of beef and its nutrients in promoting health,” said NCBA Executive Director of Nutrition Science and Registered Dietitian Dr. Shalene McNeill. “We’ve had 40 years of Dietary Guidelines, and during that time, beef consumption has decreased, yet Americans suffer more from obesity and chronic disease than ever before. Advising Americans to cut back on beef takes us even further in the wrong direction, putting our most vulnerable populations like women, children, teens and the aging at risk. This advice detracts from the real and most basic challenges we face with eating healthfully. Nutrition guidance should encourage Americans to have the flexibility to choose nutrient dense foods and dietary patterns they enjoy within calorie goals.”
For 60 days, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s Scientific Report is available on the Federal Register for public comments.
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