Food industry reacts to 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines
“Just as in the past we recommend eating more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and limiting the amount of saturated fat, added sugars and sodium.” —SYLVIA BURWELL, Health and Human Services secretary
January 7, 2016
The food industry reacted positively Thursday to the release of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommends specific limits on sugar and saturated fat consumption, and that teen boys and men eat less protein and more vegetables.
![Sylvia Burwell Sylvia Burwell](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt58a1f8f560a1ab0e/blt4acaf343f18f881e/669973c92fdb7aced5b0c5d2/secretary-burwell-web.jpg?width=160&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Sylvia Burwell
“Just as in the past we recommend eating more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and limiting the amount of saturated fat, added sugars and sodium,” explained Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell during a media call. “More specifically, the guidelines recommend that no more than 10% of your daily calories come from added sugars. They also advise that we should consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, while most Americans eat around 3,400 milligrams.”
While underscoring the importance of the guidelines’ recommendation to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables in particular, United Fresh urged policymakers to align the guidelines — which are used to inform federal nutrition programs like SNAP and Meals on Wheels — to increase access to these foods.
“Noting that three-fourths of the U.S. population consumes a diet that is low in vegetables and fruits, the new Dietary Guidelines recommends that individuals shift their eating habits to eat more fruits and vegetables every day,” said Mary Coppola, senior director of marketing for United Fresh, in a statement. “To improve public health, United Fresh urges policy makers to align all federal nutrition programs with the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines to significantly increase access to fruits and vegetables and to consider a broad range of policy changes and educational strategies to make fruits and vegetables the easy choice for all Americans and to strengthen promotion of Choose My Plate’s key consumer message ‘make half your plate fruits and vegetables.’”
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Meanwhile, The American Frozen Food Institute highlighted the guidelines' determination that nutritional needs should be met primarily from foods, with fresh, canned, dried and frozen forms being adequate.
“AFFI applauds the administration for recognizing the benefits of all forms of fruits and vegetables — frozen, fresh, canned, dried and 100 percent juice — in achieving and maintaining healthy dietary patterns. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans have a broad reach and it is important they reflect sound science,” said AFFI’s interim president Joseph Clayton, in a statement.