Every five years, USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services undergo the process of updating the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines inform all federal food programs, including school lunches and food assistance programs. They are also available to all Americans to help inform a healthy diet.

This month, nearly two years of research review by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee concluded when the committee released its scientific report in preparation for the release of new guidelines late next year. Although the report is not the official set of guidelines, it is a crucial component in forming them.

The committee is made up of health professionals, academics, researchers, and practitioners with at least 10 years of experience and demonstrated scientific expertise in one or more of the areas the committee will address. Since early 2023, they have spent time studying current nutrition research and discussing recommendations for healthy eating patterns.

A focus of this round of updates is chronic disease, which the committee noted affects more than half of Americans. Most of these conditions are related to diet.

The dairy picture

Dairy groups reported this fall that there seemed to be greater pressure from anti-animal activists who wanted the committee to reduce or remove animal products such as dairy from the dietary recommendations. Fortunately, this did not occur, and the committee continued to recommend three servings of dairy every day for all Americans aged 2 and older.

Dairy also maintained its own food group, and no plant-based beverages were considered nutritionally sufficient to be added to that group. Fortified soy beverages had already been noted as an alternative option to milk in previous dietary guidelines, and they kept that position.

Current dietary guidance recommends low-fat or fat-free dairy products, and the industry has taken efforts to showcase research that supports the health benefits of fuller fat products. The committee recognized that consuming higher fat milk may be associated with a lower risk of obesity in kids aged 2 to 5 and that sweetened (flavored) milk may not be related to obesity in older children and adolescents. The committee also found evidence that higher fat dairy products showed no association with higher cardiovascular disease morbidity and in fact had some positive benefits for growth and bone health.

However slight, this is a valuable shift from the last report. Yet, the committee said the evidence was still limited, so they opted to continue to recommend unsweetened low-fat and fat-free milk. While the conversation around fat has changed in recent years, the focus on chronic disease likely played a role in the committee’s decision.

Whole milk and flavored milk have been two of the few bright spots for fluid milk consumption in recent years, and the lack of support for these products is disappointing. Remaining a complete food group is a good outcome for dairy, but we know there is more room for upside.

In responding to the report’s release, the National Milk Producer’s Federation called the committee’s recognition that fuller fat and flavored milk may not be related to more obesity or cardiovascular disease “positive steps.” “We will continue to advocate for consideration of full-fat dairy in the final dietary guidelines expected to be released next year,” they added.