Take Action

Congress must support efforts to address the risks from excessive sodium in food and facilitate transparency for consumers, allowing them to make more informed choices for themselves and their families about what they eat.

Tell the USDA to stop requiring that processed meat be labeled as “Uncured,” and/or “No Nitrate or Nitrite Added*” when they have been processed using non-synthetic sources of added nitrate and nitrite, such as celery powder. These claims are misleading, and could be tricking consumers into believing that some processed meat is healthier, when that’s not the case.

Inaccurate and conflicting messages about what to eat are pervasive, often resulting from a single, flawed study. That’s why the Dietary Guidelines synthesis of all the evidence is so important. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses that combine findings, excluding poorly conducted or biased studies, more accurately evaluate the relationships between diet and health. Urge the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee and USDA to allow the review of all high-quality systematic reviews, not just USDA's own.

The Trump Administration is loosening rules for stores that accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, allowing retailers to count spray cheese and similarly unhealthy items as staple foods. Tell the U. S. Department of Agriculture that low-income families deserve to shop in stores that offer a meaningful variety of healthy staple foods.