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Current Dietary Guidelines

The Process to Develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025

Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Purple Logo

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 builds on the edition that came before it, and takes into consideration the scientific report from the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, and review of public and agency comments.

The process to develop the Dietary Guidelines consisted of four stages: 1) identify the topics and supporting scientific questions to be examined; 2) appoint a Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to review current scientific evidence; 3) develop the new edition of the Dietary Guidelines; 4) implement the Dietary Guidelines through Federal programs.

USDA and HHS added a new step of identifying topics and questions to begin the process of developing this edition of the Dietary Guidelines. This was done to promote a deliberate and transparent process, better define the expertise needed on the Committee, and ensure the scientific review conducted by the Committee would address Federal nutrition policy and program needs and help manage resources. More information about the topics and questions development process can be found in Part C. Methodology in the Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee

The work of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee ended with the submission of the Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to the Secretaries of USDA and HHS in June 2020.

The scientific report helps to inform the Federal government on the body of scientific evidence related to diet, nutrition, and health topics. It’s important to note that the scientific report is not the Dietary Guidelines nor a draft of it. The Committee’s report provides the review of the current state of nutrition science and includes independent, evidence-based advice for USDA and HHS to consider as the Departments develop the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines.

You can learn more about the development of the Dietary Guidelines by visiting our page on this topic.

View the Scientific ReportView Public Comments to the Departments