The federal government finalized new dietary guidelines on Thursday that don’t include controversial recommendations to eat less meat to help the environment.
When the draft guidelines were first released last year, they called on Americans to eat less meat to lower people’s carbon footprint. The draft guidelines, created by a panel of nutritional experts, noted the use of land, irrigation and greenhouse gases used in the production of beef.
The draft infuriated the beef industry, which said that environmental issues have no place in a guideline for nutrition.
The administration eventually relented in October, saying that it would strip that portion of the final guidelines. That pleased the National Cattleman’s Beef Association, which said on Thursday that the final guidelines “reaffirm the role of lean beef in a healthy diet.”
Environmental advocates were less happy.
“Given the huge health and environmental costs of diets high in factory farmed meat, the lack of clear guidance on lowering meat consumption does a disservice to the public and our future food security,” said Kari Hamerschlag, senior program manager with the environmental group Friends of the Earth, in a statement.
Cancer prevention groups were also incensed by the final guidelines, saying that the draft guidelines appropriately called for less consumption of red and processed meats in part due to the link with colorectal cancer. The World Health Organization said late last year that processed and cured meats such as bacon do have a link to colon cancer.
“The science on the link between cancer and diet is extensive. By omitting specific diet recommendations, such as eating less red and processed meat, these guidelines miss a critical and significant opportunity to reduce suffering and death from cancer,” said Dr. Richard Wender, chief cancer control officer of the American Cancer Society, in a statement.
The guidelines, put forward by the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, will be used to inform what types of foods are provided in federal programs in prisons, school lunch and breakfast programs and federal cafeterias. They are also intended to help inform Americans on how to eat a healthy diet.
The latest edition shies away from an emphasis on individual food groups and nutrients. It instead pushes a healthy “eating pattern” that avoids saturated fats, sugars and sodium.
Americans also need to eat nutrient-dense foods across all food groups.
