Bush administration appoints expert panel to update dietary guidelines

Food & Drink Weekly, August 18, 2003

The Bush administration said on August 11 it chose 13 nutrition experts from U.S. colleges and universities to review and update America's dietary guidelines for release in two years. The guidelines, which form the basis of the well-known food pyramid on many package labels, have long been a battleground between the U.S. food industry and health experts.

The 13-member committee, which begins meeting in the fall, is responsible for advising the government on any nutritional or dietary revisions necessary before the guidelines are republished in 2005, the administration said.

"This committee will consider the latest science as they develop a report that will offer Americans information that is critical to their health and welfare," Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said in a statement.

The members of the committee are:

* Lawrence Appel, physician and professor at Johns Hopkins University, who has studied the impact of nutrition on blood pressure and heart disease.

* Yvonne Bronner, professor at Morgan State University and researcher of children's nutrition.

* Benjamin Caballero, physician and professor at Johns Hopkins University and expert on obesity in children.

* Carlos Camargo, physician and assistant professor at Harvard University who has studied the health effects of moderate alcohol consumption.

* Fergus Clydesdale, professor at the University of Massachusetts and researcher of physical and chemical changes during food processing.

* Vay Liang, physician and professor at the University of California at Los Angeles who was formerly director of nutrition at the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

* Janet King, senior scientist at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute and a researcher in energy metabolism in pregnant women and adults.

* Penny Kris-Etherton, professor at Pennsylvania State University, who has studied diet and heart disease risk factors.

* Joanne Lupton, professor at Texas A&M University and researcher of the impact of diet on colon cancer.

* Theresa Nicklas, professor at Baylor College, who has studied heart disease and obesity in children.

* Russell Pate, professor at the University of South Carolina with expertise in physical fitness in children. He serves on an Institute of Medicine panel that is developing guidelines on prevention of childhood obesity.

* F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, physician and professor at Columbia University and expert on the role of nutrition in preventing diabetes.

* Connie Weaver, professor at Purdue University and former president of the American Society for the Nutritional Sciences.