Doctors Sue USDA for Deception.

Doctors belonging to the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) have filed a lawsuit claiming deception in the recently released USDA Dietary Guidelines.

Even though this year’s Guidelines are more veg friendly then ever, PCRM claims that the report contained deceptive wording to avoid exposing negative facts about meat and dairy.  The Guidelines deliberately use biomedical terms such as “saturated fat,” “cholesterol,” and “solid fat” in place of “meat” and “dairy.”  

In another case, the Guidelines detail foods that “should be eaten more frequently” by listing them out (e.g. fruits, vegetables, whole grains) but in the “should eat less of” category, biomedical terms like “solid fat” are used.  PCRM says the report is meant to be read by the general public who don’t understand terms like “solid fat” technically refer to foods like cheese or meat.

The USDA’s reason for obscuring the facts about meat and dairy’s contribution to an unhealthy America can be traced to the corporate and agribusiness executives who sat on the USDA Dietary Guidelines Committee.  Among them were a former McDonald’s executive and a member of the Dannon (yes, the yogurt) Institute.

If meat and dairy were so important to American’s health, these executives would have been sure to specifically detail as much in the Guidelines.  The fact that they deliberately used confusing terms to talk about meat and dairy should make people suspicious.  

PCRM says it best, “Americans need straightforward health advice, not bureaucratic mumbo jumbo designed to protect agribusiness.”