The Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association representing the nutrition and dietary supplements industry, commended the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee for its recently-published report, which the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services will use to develop the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
 
CRN noted that the report displays a further focus on the role that dietary supplements have in supporting the health and wellbeing of Americans, especially in certain U.S. population groups which have been struggling to achieve recommended nutrient levels from dietary intake alone.
 
“CRN is especially pleased to see the Committee’s recognition of the appropriate use of dietary supplements during pregnancy and lactation life stages,” Haiuyen Nguyen, senior director of CRN’s scientific and regulatory affairs, said. “We appreciate the report’s acknowledgement that nutrient needs during these life stages are not expected to be met by food alone, especially for essential nutrients like iron, iodine, and folic acid. CRN also agrees with the Committee’s suggestion that choline and magnesium should be further evaluated as levels of inadequacy of both nutrients are high in pregnant and lactating women.”
 
Of the many takeaways from this year’s 835-page DGAC report, the committee identified vitamins A, C, D, E, and K, calcium, magnesium, dietary fiber, choline, and potassium as under-consumed nutrients. Of these, vitamin D, iron, calcium, dietary fiber, and potassium were included as nutrients of public health concern, due to strong evidence that underconsumption of these nutrients is linked to adverse health outcomes.
 
CRN said that, over the years, it has seen a “positive shift,” in the Advisory committee. At one point, the trade group reports that the committee did not recognize the role of dietary supplements in overall nutrition.
 
“This shift demonstrates great progress and CRN hopes to see future Dietary Guidelines recognize supplements as part of a strategy to meet essential nutrient intake even beyond the nutrients included in the 2020 report,” Nguyen said.
 
CRN reports that it has been involved in the public process surrounding the development of the newest Dietary Guidelines, which began in 2018, such as by presenting feedback to the USDA and HHS, supporting nominations for the advisory committee, attending all public meetings, and submitting oral and written comments to the DGAC.