The guidelines also provide tailored recommendations for infants and children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women, older adults, individuals with chronic disease, and vegetarians and vegans, ensuring nutritional adequacy across every stage of life.

With the release of the guidelines, the federal government will begin applying them across federal programs.

Industry reaction

The new  guidelines emphasize beef’s place in a healthy diet, according to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), noting in a response to the release that the new guidelines nearly double the recommended daily amount for protein intake, increasing it to 1.2-1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight depending on age and individual caloric needs.

"The updated and simplified dietary guidelines will help more families like mine learn the facts about beef’s nutritional value and make the best decisions when they’re shopping for a nutrient-rich, whole and delicious protein,” said Kim Brackett, an Idaho rancher and NCBA vice president. “Beef provides high amounts of protein plus nine other essential nutrients, like iron and B vitamins; and gold-standard clinical studies have consistently shown that it is easy to incorporate beef into a balanced, heart-healthy diet.”

According to NCBA, the more streamlined approach to the dietary guidelines taken by Rollins and Kennedy keeps science-backed recommendations at the heart of the guidelines while making them more practical for the families, caregivers, school administrators and medical professionals making decisions every day about what to feed those in their care.

Other recommendations in the dietary guidelines pointed out by NCBA:

• Incorporate beef tallow and other healthy fats into the cooking process.
• Use healthier cooking methods like baking, broiling, roasting, stir-frying or grilling, all of which can be used with the wide variety of retail beef cuts available to American families.
• Introduce nutrient-dense foods like meat during infancy and early childhood to support growing children.

The new guidelines do not make any changes to the existing recommendation that saturated fats should not make up more than 10% of daily calories. They do note that healthy fats are a natural part of real foods like meat, and these fats support many important functions in the body, like nutrient absorption.

"As Americans face the double burden of being overfed and undernourished, they are searching for reliable, affordable solutions to meet their nutritional needs and personal preferences. Thankfully, there are a wide range of beef options in the marketplace,” said Shalene McNeill, a registered dietitian and nutrition scientist who serves as executive director of nutrition science for NCBA. “On a per-gram basis, beef offers more nutrient value than many other animal and plant options. Incorporating beef in the diet can help support the overall health and well-being for all Americans.”

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) also applauded the release.

"America’s pork producers appreciate the 2025 Dietary Guidelines’  putting pork front and center on the plate. They took note of producer concerns and rightly gave pork and other high-protein, nutrient-dense and delicious meats their due when it comes to Americans’ health and dietary habits,” said Rob Brenneman, NPPC president-elect and pork producer from Washington, Iowa.

“NMPF thanks HHS and USDA for recognizing dairy’s critical role in a healthy diet in the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as shown by its continued recommendation of three servings of dairy for Americans, its recognition of dairy’s benefits at all fat levels and dairy’s prominence in diverse diets,” said Gregg Doud, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation.

“As also shown in the scientific report that preceded today’s guidelines, reducing or eliminating dairy from the diet leads to undernourishment in key nutrients for millions of Americans. These guidelines encourage consumption of dairy nutrients critical to human health,” Doud said. “Meanwhile, not all fats are created equal, and because the guidelines acknowledge this, dairy’s benefits are better reflected in this iteration of the guidelines.”

For more information, read the Fact Sheet: Trump Administration Resets U.S. Nutrition Policy, Puts Real Food Back at the Center of Health or visit the website https://realfood.gov/.

Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a USDA announcement of the release of the guidelines and industry reaction to the announcement. [Lead photo by Kar-Tr from Getty Images.]

Angus Beef Bulletin EXTRA, Vol. 18, No. 1-A