Statement by Texas Medical Doctor Richard Thorpe on DGAC Meeting

Statement by Texas medical doctor and cattle producer Dr. Richard Thorpe on today's Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee meeting to discuss the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, where the Committee made clear their intention to remove lean beef and reduce red meat consumption from  healthful dietary patterns:

"Despite a large body of strong and consistent evidence supporting lean beef’s role in healthy diets, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee appears to be out of touch with today’s lean meat supply in the retail counter and the 30 years of nutrition advice showcasing benefits of lean beef. I am deeply disappointed that the Committee missed this opportunity to positively influence the American diet by blatantly disregarding sound science and removing lean beef from a healthful dietary pattern.  

"Today, for the second time, the Committee presented and agreed to evidence showing that there are healthy dietary patterns with red meat intake above current U.S. consumption levels.  Against their own review of the science, the Committee is recommending healthy diets should be lower in red meat than they are today. The Committee has turned a blind eye to their own evidence library criteria, arbitrarily excluding peer-reviewed, sound science on the health benefits of lean beef. To recommend that Americans eat less of a heart healthy protein, the only area of the existing guidelines currently consumed within the recommended amounts, demonstrates that this Committee has its own agenda, and it is not guided by the evidence. This flawed process and Committee bias is preventing a fair and reasonable discussion of the true science. I encourage the Secretaries to take a step back and look closely at the inconsistency and absurdity of the Committee’s recommendation."