New Dietary Guidelines Affirm Dairy’s Role In Healthy Eating

HART Insight Summary

The newly released 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans reaffirm dairy’s role in a healthy eating pattern across all life stages and expand recognition of whole and full fat dairy products, reflecting evolving nutrition science. Dairy organizations welcomed this shift, while public health groups raised concerns about saturated fat messaging and the use of terms like “highly processed foods,” which lack clear scientific definition. Because the guidelines shape federal feeding programs, including school meals and military nutrition, their treatment of dairy directly influences purchasing patterns and product formulation standards. For cheese manufacturers, this represents continued demand alongside an increased need for clarity in how dairy products are described, produced, and communicated.

Key Takeaways

• The guidelines maintain dairy as a core component of healthy dietary patterns across all age groups.
• Whole and full-fat dairy products are acknowledged as compatible with healthy eating, reflecting evolving nutrition research.
• Federal dietary guidance influences school meals, military and veteran meals, and other public nutrition programs.
• Debate remains around how terms like “highly processed foods” are defined and applied.

At A Glance

Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
Original Publish Date: January 9, 2026
Source: Cheese Market News

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins this week released the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030. The new guidelines mark the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in decades, the officials say, delivering a clear, common-sense message to the American people: Eat real food.

Nearly 90% of health care spending in the United States today goes toward treating chronic disease, much of it linked to diet and lifestyle, officials note. More than 70% of American adults are overweight or obese, and nearly one in three adolescents has prediabetes. Diet-driven chronic disease now disqualifies many young Americans from military service, threatening national readiness and limiting opportunity, they add.

“These guidelines return us to the basics,” Kennedy says. “American households must prioritize whole, nutrient-dense foods — protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats and whole grains — and dramatically reduce highly processed foods. This is how we Make America Healthy Again.” Rollins says this edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) will reset federal nutrition policy, putting families and children first.

“At long last, we are realigning our food system to support American farmers, ranchers and companies that grow and produce real food. Farmers and ranchers are at the forefront of the solution, and that means more protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats and whole grains on American dinner tables,” she says.

The 2025-2030 Guidelines reestablish food — not pharmaceuticals — as the foundation of health and reclaim the food pyramid as a tool for nourishment and education.

The guidelines emphasize simple, flexible guidance rooted in modern nutrition science, including:

• Prioritize protein at every meal;
• Consume full-fat dairy with no added sugars;
• Eat vegetables and fruits throughout the day, focusing on whole forms;
• Incorporate healthy fats from whole foods such as meats, seafood, eggs, nuts, seeds, olives and avocados;
• Focus on whole grains, while sharply reducing refined carbohydrates;
• Limit highly processed foods, added sugars and artificial additives;
• Eat the right amount for you, based on age, sex, size and activity level;
• Choose water and unsweetened beverages to support hydration; and
• Limit alcohol consumption for better overall health.

Tailored Guidance For Different Populations

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.

Dairy industry stakeholders lauded the release of the guidelines and the spotlight on dairy foods as part of a healthy diet.

“The new Dietary Guidelines send a clear and powerful message to Americans: Dairy foods belong at the center of a healthy diet,” says Michael Dykes, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA). “IDFA applauds HHS and USDA for grounding the 2025-2030 DGA in today’s nutrition science, including the evidence showing that dairy products at all fat levels support healthy eating patterns. Recommending the consumption of whole and full-fat dairy products such as whole milk, yogurt, cheese and other dairy products is an important victory for consumer choice and public health.

“Americans can now enjoy the wholesome dairy foods that work for their cultural, dietary and lifestyle preferences knowing that they are benefiting from dairy’s unique nutrient profile,” Dykes adds. “IDFA encourages the administration to update federal nutrition programs tied to the DGA to ensure Americans can access whole, full-fat and reduced-fat dairy products through these programs.”

Dairy foods including milk, cheese, yogurt and other products are a cornerstone of healthy dietary patterns, delivering 13 essential nutrients, with the DGA highlighting dairy’s high-quality protein, healthy fat, vitamins and minerals, IDFA says, noting that the organization for many years has highlighted that scientific evidence does not support previous DGA recommendations to limit dairy food consumption to low-fat or fat-free products. Nutrition science has evolved to show the benefits of whole and full-fat dairy foods, including less weight gain, neutral or lower risk of heart disease, and lower risk of childhood obesity. The new guidelines reflect this growing body of research, providing Americans greater flexibility to choose dairy foods that meet their needs.

Dykes notes the DGA also highlight dairy’s central role as a protein source alongside healthy meats, eggs, seafood and other protein foods.

“These DGAs encourage Americans to look no further than wholesome dairy products like milk, yogurt, dairy powders, cheese and other dairy foods when adding healthy protein that work best for themselves, their families and their unique situations,” he says.

Questions About “Highly Processed Foods”

However, Dykes also cautioned that the DGA’s reference to “highly processed foods” could create unnecessary confusion among consumers and policymakers because there is no official or scientific consensus on what that term means.
“Many nutritious, safe and essential foods — including milk, yogurt and cheese — undergo processing to ensure quality, safety and accessibility,” he says. “Establishing dietary guidance around an undefined or inconsistently applied term risks discouraging consumption of nutrient-rich foods that are vital to public health. As we noted in recent comments to federal agencies, any move toward defining or classifying foods by processing level is premature and should be informed by rigorous, consensus-based science.”

In a statement from National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) President and CEO Gregg Doud, NMPF thanked HHS and USDA for recognizing dairy’s critical role in a healthy diet in the new DGA, noting the guidelines continue to recommend three servings of dairy for Americans and acknowledge dairy’s benefits at all fat levels and its prominence in diverse diets.

“We are proud to benefit American health in fundamental ways, and we welcome the potential these guidelines hold for expanding upon dairy’s critical role in the diet,” Doud says. “As also shown in the scientific report that preceded (this week)’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. 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.

Doud notes that now that the guidelines are out, the federal government will begin applying them across federal programs. “We look forward to working with the entire nutrition community to ensure that dairy is best used to generate positive health outcomes for families across America,” he says.

Public Health Group Criticism

Meanwhile, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says that while the guidelines maintain long-standing limits on saturated fat and sodium, and emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole foods and water consumption — elements that reflect important, evidence-based public health priorities — amid this positive advice is “harmful guidance to emphasize animal protein, butter and full-fat dairy — guidance that undermines both the saturated fat limit and the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s science-based advice to emphasize plant-based proteins to reduce cardiovascular disease risk.”

“While the meat and dairy industries may be excited about the new food pyramid, the American public should not be; the guidance on protein and fats in this DGA is, at best, confusing, and, at worst, harmful to the one in four Americans who are directly impacted by the DGA through federal nutrition programs,” says CSPI President Peter G. Lurie. “In addition to contradictory guidance, the document spreads blatant misinformation that ‘healthy fats’ include butter and beef tallow.”

In response, CSPI and the Center for Biological Diversity have created the Uncompromised DGA — a resource that illustrates “what the federal dietary guidance should have looked like if the agencies had adhered to their mandate to publish an evidence-based DGA reflecting the reviews of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee,” Lurie says.

“Much like many states are continuing to follow CDC’s long-standing, science-based pediatric vaccination schedule, policymakers, advocates, health professionals, and consumers can use the Uncompromised DGA to guide public health policy and individual decisions,” he says.

Federal Program Impacts

In a fact sheet on the new DGA from HHS, the department notes that the Dietary Guidelines are the foundation to dozens of federal feeding programs, and the release of the guidelines marks the first step in making sure school meals, military and veteran meals, and other child and adult nutrition programs promote affordable, whole, healthy, nutrient-dense foods. View the updated guidelines.

HART Perspective

For cheese manufacturers, the guidelines signal stable long term demand for dairy products while reinforcing the importance of consistent processing standards and clear communication around product attributes. As federal definitions and consumer perceptions evolve, particularly regarding terms like “processing” and “nutrient dense foods”, manufacturers may increasingly benefit from equipment and production systems that support transparency, repeatability, and high quality output.

What This Means for Cheese Manufacturers

• Continued visibility of dairy in federal nutrition guidance supports long-term category relevance.
• Ongoing policy discussions may influence how dairy products are positioned in institutional and retail settings.
• Clear definitions and consistent messaging remain important as nutrition science and consumer understanding evolve.

Attribution

This article references industry reporting and data originally published by Cheese Market News. HART Design & Manufacturing has added independent analysis and dairy-processing context. The original publishers did not contribute to or review these additions.

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