USDA Urged To Remove Dairy Category From 2025 Dietary Guidelines

A new open letter is calling on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to remove the dairy category from its upcoming 2025 dietary guidelines. 

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The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) is published every five years by the USDA and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The DGA is a set of recommendations on what US citizens should eat to promote health and reduce risk of chronic disease. 

Despite a growing body of evidence linking dairy with significant health concerns, the USDA continues to recommend that US citizens consume milk and other dairy products. It states that “Healthy dietary patterns feature dairy, including fat-free and low-fat (1%) milk, yogurt, and cheese.” The DGA also claims that 90 percent of Americans do not meet “dairy recommendations.” It does state, however, that soy milk can be used as an alternative to dairy.

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USDA urged to ditch dairy

Dairy-free nonprofit Switch4Good, alongside dozens of dietitians and other healthcare professionals, is calling for the USDA to remove the dairy category and instead add dairy to the protein category. Switch4Good states that it’s looking to make “small incremental changes” as the USDA is highly unlikely to remove dairy entirely due to its close “ties to the dairy industry.”

“The goal of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) is to provide evidence-based guidance that Americans of all cultures, ethnicities, and dietary ideologies can relate to and can implement in their daily diet,” the Switch4Good letter begins. “Unfortunately, the current DGA is not meeting people where they are in this sense. Dairy has its own dedicated category, yet it is not a food eaten by all Americans, including the many ethnic minorities who do not consume it as part of their habitual diets.”

‘Not equitable’

As well as avoiding dairy for ethical and environmental reasons, millions of Americans are lactose intolerant. Dairy intolerance is particularly high among Asian-American people, affecting around 90 percent of this group, and Black and Native American people, affecting 80 percent of both groups.

The letter points out that singling out dairy is “not equitable” as it “marginalizes people who do not consume dairy either by choice, due to misalignment with their cultural heritage, or because it makes them feel sick and uncomfortable.” 

“It is inequitable and problematic to continue to promote dairy as uniquely nutritious, and therefore required for all Americans,” the letter adds. “All of the nutrients in dairy products (such as calcium, potassium, and protein) can be found in food sources that are commonplace in other cultures.”

Speaking to Plant Based News about the letter, Tiffany Bruno, registered dietitian and Director of Education at Switch4Good, said: “It’s really encouraging to see so many healthcare professionals supporting our efforts to remove dairy as its own food category and place it in the protein category. Our message is grounded in sound science and supported by experts in health and nutrition, so I’m optimistic the Advisory Committee will be receptive to us.”

Switch4Good is urging people to submit comments to the USDA using its template. You can do this here. So far, 62 percent of comments submitted about the DGA come from Switch4Good. In 2020, the organization successfully persuaded the USDA to include soy milk as a nutritionally equivalent alternative to dairy in its guidelines. 

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