Читать книгу Food Regulation - Neal D. Fortin - Страница 31

FACA requires that certain kinds of groups whose advice is relied upon by the government be chartered as advisory committees. Advisory committees must be constituted to provide balance and to avoid a conflict of interest. Committee meetings must also be held in public with an opportunity for comment from those outside the committee.

As science‐based programs, the food‐regulation agencies often rely on committees for scientific advice. Therefore, affected parties may find it important to have a say in the deliberations and recommendations of these advisory committees. For example, USDA and HHS select members for the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which issues the nation’s nutritional and dietary guidelines. These recommendations are the foundation for the nutritional standards in all federal food assistance programs, including school lunches and food stamps, and are used in developing the food guides and nutritional classes. Various groups have contested the makeup of the committee for lack of balance and for conflicts of interest. Because food companies are regular sponsors for educational activities of nutrition professional associations as well as nutrition research, finding nutrition academics without some connection to the food industry is difficult.³⁸