U.S. Dietary
Guidelines
for
Americans
The 2005 Dietary
Guidelines reaffirmed the importance of grain
foods in a healthy diet.The guidelines
place grain foods at the center of a healthy
diet. These guidelines play a prominent role in consumers’ views of nutritional health and help guide manufacturers in new product innovations.
The 2005 Dietary Guidelines are currently under review by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. The sixth and final meeting of the committee was May 12. NAMA continues to urge the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to encourage consumption of whole grain products in the American diet, but not at the expense of enriched grain products like bread.
NAMA, the American Bakers Association, USA Rice, the Grain Foods Foundation, the Wheat Foods Council, and the Grains for Health Foundation submitted joint comments about the subcommittee’s recommendations on April 29. In the joint comments, the grain chain recognized “nutritionists’ frustrations that consumers are eating too many energy-dense forms of potatoes.” The group argued that replacing two servings of grains with two servings of vegetables is not “a solution for increasing more colorful vegetables and/or whole grains in the diet.” The group also expressed concern that “fried starchy vegetables would be substituted for grains, increasing total calories and fat significantly.”
Additional comments made by the grain chain in response to several subcommittee recommendations included:
- Use the term “enriched” grains, when referencing grains that are not defined as whole grains.
- Support a voluntary, gradual and incremental approach to the reduction of sodium in foods that is mindful of functional properties and consumer preferences.
- Continue use of the current guideline: “Consume half your grains from whole.”
last updated June 8, 2010
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