Feb. 15, 2019 – On January 17, NPC filed comments with the Department of Health and Human Services regarding its Healthy People 2030 process. NPC focused its comments on ensuring that science is utilized to make recommendations about the food that is encouraged for consumption, instead of methods lacking in empirical rigor.
“NPC has a concern that the criteria used to classify vegetables does not reflect nutritional quality. Nutrition recommendations should be based on a scientific evaluation of the nutrient needs of the target population and a similar evaluation of the availability of shortfall nutrients. Focusing on the color of vegetables, rather than nutrient content, will not support desired nutrition outcomes and will result in inconsistent and misleading policy outcomes.”
NPC reminded HHS that potatoes are high in essential, under-consumed nutrients identified by the most recent (2015-2020) Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). Potassium and fiber are two of those under-consumed nutrients and potatoes have been identified “good” source of both.