Salinas, CA Nutritional Experts Say We Should Focus On Sustainable Foods When Revamping Government Guidelines

A panel of nutrition experts working for the Obama administration are working on updated nutritional guidelines and as they do so, many are saying they should consider the environment when coming up with the new guidelines.  Another dramatic change is that the panel is no longer considering cholesterol to be a major concern.  Current guidelines call for Americans to eat no more than 300 milligrams per day, less than the content of two eggs.  Another major change is that the panel is expected to recommend that we drink three to five cups of coffee per day to reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  They are expected to recommend that we eat limited amounts of meat, more plant-based foods and seafood since it is plentiful.  The meat industry, not surprisingly, is not happy with the potential recommendations, which influence how billions of dollars of spending on government food programs goes.  “The committee’s foray into the murky waters of sustainability is well beyond its scope and expertise,” Barry Carpenter, president of the North American Meat Institute, told The Wall Street Journal.  The guidelines will be released later this year and it will be interesting to see if lobbyists from the meat industry are able to get the recommendations changed.