17 May Food Sector Companies Have an Imperative to Be Engaged with the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) Process: It’s Your Business 

The DGA is the cornerstone for all dietary and nutrition advice in Federal food and nutrition assistance programs, national nutrition education, and nutrition research priorities in the US. I know this because I was a past policy official leading the USDA agency that sets national nutrition policy and I worked with HHS to manage the DGA process. I was also an executive leading nutrition, health and wellness in a major food company that embraced the DGA recommendations as part of its food philosophy.

The Guidelines are derived from an open science deliberation process by a Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC). The Committee, made up of esteemed experts in all facets of nutrition and health, weighs the preponderance of the best scientific evidence about what and how much to eat to be healthy and reduce the risk of illnesses related to diet. The conclusions the Committee reaches are based on the objective merits of the best science to form its recommendations. From those recommendations, the DGA policy is formed.

The impact of the DGA is tremendous – from provoking disruptive food product and process innovation to deliver better food for more people, to setting the Federal criteria for food plans, dietary patterns, and clinical guidelines. Nutrition authorities and health influencers use the Guidelines with the goal of helping Americans of all ages achieve better public health outcomes, if followed.  So, it’s no wonder, for example, that there’s an evolution of plant-based foods in the market today. That’s because the 2010 and 2015 Guidelines advise that consumers choose more nutrient-dense, plant-based foods for their healthy “plates” (MyPlate.gov). And there are many more whole grains offerings on supermarket shelves because of the recommendation to increase whole grain intakes for health benefits. Further evidence of the impact of the DGA is the heightened concern over added sugars and the recommendations in the 2015 DGA to limit added sugars to not more than 200 calories for adults and 100 calories for children. This has led to declaring added sugars in FDA’s revised Nutrition Facts Label and a lot of product development in the area of nutrient-dense beverages with a touch of sugar.

Thus, it’s essential that food sector and other entities in the agriculture and food distribution chain, research and nutrition promotion organizations, health professionals, trade groups, and fitness/wellness-focused companies embrace the opportunity to follow and engage in the process of setting the next evidence-based Guidelines. There are opportunities and challenges for all food-related enterprises.

The first meeting of the 2020-2025 DGAC was held on March 28-29, 2019, in Washington, DC. At that public meeting, it was determined that the DGAC will operate with six subcommittees; each will focus on specific topics. The six subcommittees include reviewing the science and forming recommendations on: dietary patterns that lead to positive health outcomes, the nutritional and lifestyle needs of pregnant and lactating women, the nutritional life-stage and lifestyle needs of the birth to 24 months segment, the relationship and dietary impact of beverages and added sugars, aspects of dietary fats and seafood, and the impact and importance of frequency of eating. There will also be an intersecting committee charged with data analysis and food pattern modeling whose work will overlap with that of the other subcommittees.

Future meetings of the DGAC are scheduled for: July 10-11, 2019; October 24-25, 2019; January 23-24, 2020; and March 12-13, 2020. There will be opportunities for oral public comment during the July 2019 and January 2020 meetings. The DGAC’s Scientific Report is due to the Secretaries of USDA and HHS by May 2020, and the final DGA policy is expected to be released by December 2020.

There are several opportunities to engage in the process that should be compelling to any food company or organization working according to a “health means business” paradigm. These include preparing and submitting oral and written comments that follow and build on the comments and data that the Committee and agencies already received (https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/work-under-way/review-science/topics-and-questions-under-review), which informed the need for the subcommittees above. The opportunities to engage also include mining and synthesizing nutrition and health research to emphasize a scientific principle or provide a perspective that isn’t easily recognized in the research literature. There’s also a need to consider consumer behavior research to inform and enlighten the Committee’s science evaluation work. Lastly, the often unique experiences and relationships that food sector companies and organizations have with consumers and customers, and first-hand knowledge of strategies for marketplace innovation, may fill glaring gaps about trends in the marketplace, particularly among segments of consumers like those in the birth to 24 months, children and adolescents, older adult, and health-conscious lifestyle adults segments. Such information from food companies will likely help the Committee in its charge by increasing awareness of factors affecting frequency of eating and influences on food choices, such as values that impact the selection of plant-based alternatives over animal-based foods in building flexible eating patterns.

Some challenges for food sector enterprises to engage in the 2020 process are knowing how the DGAC works at its charge. Another one is knowing what kinds of research, data and insights may be most enlightening to the DGAC. And as the Committee addresses the newest evidence, it can lead to changes in the current Guidelines or new advice on what and how much to eat to be healthy. Thus, the process of objectively reviewing nutrition science can bring a challenge to food science and technology. Food companies should be prepared to explore and consider changes to their formulations, production methods, and portfolios, and what their narratives can say about them. They should also consider investments in food product and food ingredient innovation to supply the foods and beverages that are in the dietary patterns that embody the recommendations the Committee makes.

FoodTrition Solutions, LLC, is poised to help food companies with these opportunities and challenges by helping them actively participate in the DGA process. We can advise on compelling oral and written comments and points-of-view of food sector companies; set up strategies for collecting and coalescing compelling research and dietary intake data; prepare modeling analyses for foods, beverages, and commodities for dietary pattern contributions; and mine food company experiences with the consumers of their products and their customers in the areas of factors affecting food choices and lifestyle behaviors; among other areas that are important to the DGAC.

Let us know how we can help you be involved in the DGA process. After all, it’s your business.

[Robert C. Post, PhD., MEd., MSc., is a former executive director the Federal agency that establishes the DGA, a globally-recognized leader in the food industry and nutrition community, and the Owner and Principal of FoodTrition Solutions, LLC. FoodTrition Solutions is a consultancy that specializes in guiding food product and technology innovations to meet today’s consumer and customer needs; and navigating food and nutrition laws, regulations and policies, and food labeling landscapes and nutrition labeling essentials, with customized roadmaps, strategies, and toolkits for marketplace success. Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drrobpost, or contact him at robert.post@foodtritionsolutions.com.]