Activist criticizes expert panel's dietary guidelines

WASHINGTON -- An activist group wants the government to replace some of the 13 experts chosen to update the nation's nutrition guidelines, arguing that they are closely tied to the food industry and farm groups.

Michael Jacobson, executive director of the group, Center for Science in the Public Interest, said some experts on the panel -- namely nutritionists Penny M. Kris-Etherton and Connie M. Weaver -- have received money from food processors and farm groups for their research.

Jacobson noted that another expert on the panel, Fergus Clydesdale, a food scientist, owns stock in food companies while others -- researchers Vay Liang W. Go and Xavier Pi-Sunyer -- have gotten money from drug companies for their studies.

"It's clearly unbalanced with all these people with strong industry affiliations," Jacobson said. "The losers are going to be the public."

Every five years, the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments select experts to make new recommendations to encourage healthy eating habits.

Schools refer to the guidelines when planning meals served to 28 million low-income children in the national lunch program, and many doctors regard them as benchmarks for good eating.

However, each time the government chooses a panel to renew the guidelines, watchdog groups and nutritionists complain that some members have a conflict of interest.

Alisa Harrison, an Agriculture Department spokeswoman, defended the panel.

"These people are experts in obesity, in nutrition education, and in the relationship between chronic diseases and nutrition," she said. "It's a good balance."

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On the Net:

Dietary Guidelines: http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/dietary--guidelines.html

Center for Science in the Public Interest: http://www.cspinet.org