Hi everyone this is Monica Reinagel and you are listening to the nutrition

divos quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous. Today I have some thoughts on the recently released dietary

guidelines for Americans. As you've probably heard by now, the government has finally released the latest update of the

dietary guidelines for Americans or the DGA.

These guidelines are revised every five years to take into account the latest scientific developments.

Even though most citizens never read the guidelines and would probably be hard-pressed to

identify even one of the recommendations they contain.

The DGA nonetheless does influence every American because this document is the cornerstone

for all federal nutrition policies, programs, and educational outreach,

including things like school lunch programs, the supplemental nutrition assistance program,

and the My Plate Program.

If all of this seems like deja vu, it's probably because we were just talking about this last

February, and that's when the produced by a panel of independent nutrition scientists and researchers

is supposed to be the basis for the guidelines themselves,

but that's not quite what happens.

After the advisory committee publishes their report, there's a period during which the public is invited to submit

comments to the USDA before the final guidelines are released. Here's what

really happens. Paid lobbyists for various sectors of the food industry spend the next nine months on a well-funded campaign to remove or at least dilute any recommendations that the advisory committee made that might threaten the bottom line of

their corner of the industry.

And members of Congress get into the Act too, privately and publicly harassing the

Secretary of Agriculture, to get him to remove any recommendations

that might negatively impact their constituents or donors.

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