Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s Removal of Lean Meat From Healthy Diet Pattern Is Extreme and Scientifically Insupportable, North American Meat Institute Says
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Washington, DC -- The North American Meat
Institute (NAMI) in comments submitted
yesterday raised strong objections to the 2015
Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s
(DGAC) removal of lean meat from a healthy
dietary pattern.
“The committee’s removal of nutrient-dense
lean meat from a healthy dietary pattern is
stunning,” said NAMI President and CEO Barry
Carpenter. “The change was made behind
closed doors during a lunch break at the final
December 15 meeting. Actions made in haste
behind closed doors are not rooted in science
and do not make good public policy.”
NAMI’s comments called the action
“arbitrary and capricious” and said it
“suggests that the DGAC fails to recognize
the nutritional value lean meat offers and is
ignoring the scientific evidence supporting its
inclusion in the American diet.” The
Institute provided extensive references showing
the important nutritional contributions that
lean meat and poultry make to the diet.
NAMI noted that Subcommittee 1 data from the
DGAC November 7 meeting demonstrated strong and
consistent evidence from a majority of
randomized control trials (RCT) that red and
processed meats consumption is part of healthy
dietary patterns. Further, all trials
indicated that “gold standard”
Mediterranean-style diets reported red and
processed meat consumption at or above the
usual adult consumption range, which is higher
than USDA Food Patterns (median consumption up
to twice the USDA Food Patterns).
“Based on the December 15 meeting, NAMI
questions the scientific rigor of the DGAC
decision, especially after nearly 24 months of
reviewing the scientific evidence,” NAMI
said. “If the DGAC believed lean meat was
not part of common characteristics of a healthy
pattern, why was it included in the draft
evidence conclusion through the morning of
December 15?”
The Institute said it supports nutritional
guidance that encourages the consumption of
nutrient dense foods, which includes meat and
poultry, and moves away from consumption of
energy dense foods. “This guidance would be
more helpful to the average American rather
than guidance that ignores the role lean meat
contributes to the diet because it would
promote energy balance and healthier diets for
Americans,” NAMI said. In addition, the
Institute said dietary guidance should be
practical, affordable, attainable and positive
and should encourage Americans to focus on
eating a healthful diet while respecting
cultural forces, food preferences, budgets,
availability and habits.
The DGAC’s focus on sustainability is
objectionable because it is not within the
committee’s expertise. “The Committee
wrongly assumed if production animal
agriculture were eliminated, the food supply as
a whole would be more sustainable,” the
Institute said. In fact, the committee appears
to be acting on incomplete data. A November
2014 analysis in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition analyzed the environmental
impact of various foods and noted that many
analyses have relied upon environmental impact
per pound produced rather than per calorie
supplied. When viewed in the latter manner,
meat and poultry are quite “green.” The
authors noted that when fruits and vegetables
were substituted for meat there was either no
change or even an increase in greenhouse gas
emissions because of the amount of fruits and
vegetables required to maintain the caloric
content was so high.
Contrary to the committee’s view, processed
meats are an example of a highly sustainable
meat and poultry product. “Making food
products from the entire animal is the most
sustainable thing to do. In some cases, nearly
70 percent of the animal goes into processed
products. To disregard such a significant
portion of the animal is irresponsible,
especially when those products provide an
affordable, safe and nutrient dense form of
protein,” NAMI commented.
“Meat and poultry are an integral part of the
American diet and the DGAC’s failure to
recognize the role of lean meat as a component
of a healthy eating pattern is concerning and
ill considered,” NAMI concluded. “It also
reflects either an astonishing lack of
awareness of the scientific evidence or a
callous disregard of that evidence, again
calling into question the entirety of the
recommendations submitted by the DGAC to the
agencies. We encourage the agencies to include
lean meat and poultry as a component of a
healthy eating pattern.”
To read NAMI's complete comments, click here:
http://www.meatinstitute.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/108410
The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) is the
leading voice for the meat and poultry
industry. Formed from the merger of the
American Meat Institute (AMI) and North
American Meat Association (NAMA), the Institute
has a rich, century-long history and provides
essential member services including
legislative, regulatory, scientific,
international, and public affairs
representation. NAMI’s mission is to shape a
public policy environment in which the meat and
poultry industry can produce wholesome products
safely, efficiently and profitably. Together,
the Institute’s members produce the vast
majority of U.S. beef, pork, lamb, and poultry
and the equipment, ingredients and services
needed for the safest and highest quality
products.
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