The Australian dairy industry has laid out its top priorities for dairy foods in the next Australian Dietary Guidelines, which includes ensuring milk, cheese and yoghurt continue to be recognised as an integral part of a healthy, sustainable diet.
The four-year process to review the Australian Dietary Guidelines has begun with the completion of the first stakeholder activity - an Online Scoping Survey to determine the priorities of the review.
Dairy Australia and Australian Dairy Products Federation (ADPF), with input from dairy companies and external health and nutrition and sustainability experts, submitted a response to the survey on behalf of the Australian dairy industry.
Dairy Australia human health and nutrition policy manager Melissa Cameron said the Australian Government had tasked the National Health and Medical Research Council to review the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines.
"These guidelines are a pivotal public health document that guides food and nutrition policy, regulation and consumer education across the country," she said.
"The review of the guidelines presents a unique opportunity for the dairy industry to ensure dairy foods, including milk, cheese and yoghurt, continue to be recognised as an integral part of a healthy, sustainable diet.
"In the current guidelines, milk, cheese and yoghurt make up one of the five core food groups recommended for good health and wellbeing. However, it cannot be assumed this position will be maintained in the next iteration of these guidelines.
"The recent review of the Canadian Dietary Guidelines recommends consumption of a mostly plant-based diet, and as a result, dairy foods are now incorporated into a protein-based food group, which overlooks the unique health benefits of the Dairy Food Matrix, , a concept which explains that whole foods are more than the sum of their single nutrients..
"Conversely, the review of the American Dietary Guidelines continues to strongly recognise the importance of dairy in providing quality nutrition and reducing non-communicable diseases and does not consider sustainability in its recommendations."
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The following outlines the dairy industry's priority food and nutrition topics to be considered for inclusion in the guidelines review, which were submitted through the Online Scoping Survey:
- Greater consideration of the Food Matrix effect in relation to health outcomes.
- Recognition of the strong scientific evidence that supports the consumption of dairy foods across the life stages that spans heart health, healthy bones, weight and type 2 diabetes.
- Recognition that all types of milk, cheese and yoghurt, including regular and reduced-fat and plain and flavoured varieties, are nutrient-dense, healthy foods.
- Plant-based products are not equivalent to dairy foods and the new guidelines should include a review of the definition of 'dairy alternatives'.
- Dairy foods can be part of a healthy, sustainable diet where sustainability considers nutrition, environmental, economic and social aspects.
The next formal stakeholder submission opportunity will be a call for supporting evidence on the final review topics (expected to take place in the last quarter of 2021), and the dairy industry will again look to provide a robust, science-based response.
Leading up to this time, Dairy Australia and ADPF will undertake communications and engagement activities including:
- Sharing dairy's priority topics with key opinion leaders, policy setters and health professionals.
- Establishing a dairy advisory group of scientific and public health experts based on the final review scope (once announced).
- Collating and reviewing scientific evidence supporting dairy's role in a healthy, sustainable diet.
A key commitment in the Australian Dairy Plan is the increased effort in the promotion of dairy's health credentials. This is also reflected in Dairy Australia's Strategic Plan (2020-25) as a means for enhancing community trust in dairy by ensuring Australians value the superior health and nutrition benefits of dairy products.
For the industry to drive this narrative and deliver on its goals, it requires a strong scientific evidence base and supportive national policies and guidelines.
The review of the Australian Dietary Guidelines takes place once every 10 years and will be one of the most significant pieces of work to ensure that dairy foods continue to be recognised as an integral part of healthy and sustainable dietary patterns into the future.}
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