Comer, McClain Probe Formulation of Alcohol Consumption Guidelines
WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) are conducting oversight of the development of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, specifically related to alcohol consumption. In letters to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the lawmakers are requesting documents, communications, and staff-level briefings related to the formulation of the Dietary Guidelines.
“In the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress allocated $1.3 million for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to study the relationship between alcohol consumption and health outcomes such as cancer, obesity, and heart disease to inform the 2025 Dietary Guidelines. […] In Section 773 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, Congress reaffirmed its intent. Congress again directed the Secretaries of USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ‘consider the findings and recommendations of the NASEM report in the development of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ and reiterated that the Dietary Guidelines ‘shall be based on the preponderance of scientific and medical knowledge consistent with section 5341 of Title 7 of United States Code,’” the lawmakers wrote.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 and the National Nutrition Monitoring Act require Dietary Guidelines to be based on scientific evidence and adhere to congressional intent. Despite this statutory mandate for NASEM to complete a review of alcohol related to the Dietary Guidelines, HHS appears to have taken improper authority over the development of alcohol consumption guidelines.
“…by independently studying the impacts of alcohol intake on health for the purposes of informing the 2025 Dietary Guidelines, HHS is duplicating—and may intend to undermine—the congressionally mandated effort already being carried out by NASEM. A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that HHS should collaborate better in future formulations of the Dietary Guidelines to reduce duplicative research activities,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to HHS.
“Despite USDA’s shared responsibility for formulating the Dietary Guidelines, HHS appears to be taking improper authority over the development of the alcohol consumption guidelines. […] As USDA works towards finalizing the 2025 Dietary Guidelines, it is imperative that the NASEM Review of Evidence on Alcohol and Health complete its work as mandated by Congress without interference or efforts to subvert it by USDA or other government agencies,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to USDA.
Read the letters here: