Office of the Assistant Secretary
                                      for Health
                                      Washington DC 20201 


                                           June 16, 1995

The Honorable Donna Shalala                        The Honorable Daniel Glickman
Secretary of Health and Human Services             Secretary of Agriculture
Washington, D.C. 20201                                  Washington, D. C. 20250

Dear Madam Secretary and Mr. Secretary:

I am pleased to submit the "Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 1995." The Committee was charged with reviewing the 1990 edition of Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans and determining if, on the basis of current scientific and medical knowledge, revisions are warranted. This report concludes the duties of the Committee.

The members of the Committee were pleased to have been invited to review the Government's key policy document on nutrition and commend the predecessors on the quality of the Third Edition of the Dietary Guidelines. The 1990 Guidelines contain messages that remain sound and of key importance for choosing healthful diets. Revisions to the Guidelines are, however, suggested by the present Committee to reflect new scientific evidence, increased consensus among health authorities on certain diet and health issues, and public response to the current edition. The changes and their rationale form the basis for this report.

The Committee recommends that the two Departments publish and widely distribute the Fourth Edition of the Dietary Guidelines, using the proposed text submitted herein. The Committee applauds the efforts of the Departments to conduct consumer testing prior to release of the Dietary Guidelines and hopes suggestions and concerns will be addressed before the bulletin is published. The Committee also highly recommends the development of supplemental materials based on the Dietary Guidelines that target specific populations.

If, during the course of Departmental review, changes are made to the suggested wording of the bulletin, the Committee would appreciate the opportunity to comment on these revisions.

Finally, the Committee notes that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization have mandated that each country develop Food-Based Dietary Guidelines. This effort was the subject of an international FAO/WHO consultation in Nicosia, Cyprus in March, 1995. Two members of this Advisory Committee, Drs. Barbara Schneeman and Irwin Rosenberg, participated in the Cyprus conference. The promulgation of Food-Based Dietary Guidelines is a major element of national commitments made at the United Nations-sponsored International Nutrition Conference in Rome in December, 1992. This Committee considers the 1995 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as recommended in his report, to be fully responsive to this international mandate. The Guidelines represent an integral component of our long-standing national commitment to improve nutrition and health consistent with the terms of the International Conference on Nutrition.

                                          Sincerely,

                                          [signature]

                                          Doris Howes Calloway, Ph.D.
                                          Chair
                                          Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee

Enclosure