Several members of the public called the government’s dietary guidelines racist for historically endorsing milk, yogurt, and cheese as part of a nutritious diet, and recommended dropping dairy from the new version of the guidelines set to be released next year.

“The vast majority of people of color in this country are intolerant of lactose and yet, because they think they have to eat this stuff, they go out and eat it and get sick,” Milton Mills, a physician from Gilead Medical Group in Washington, D.C., said in a public meeting Thursday. “It is outrageous to have a committee that does not reflect the American population.”